The City of San Gabriel was recently awarded a grant of $200,000 to help study the safety of school routes in the city in a project known as the Safe Routes to School Plan. Grant funds, which will be available to the city starting in July 2018, come from the recently adopted Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017, also known as SB1. This will help augment the City Council’s earlier approval of $90,000 in city funds, which will serve as a local match to this grant.  

This grant – awarded by the Southern California Association of Governments – is part of the state’s Active Transportation Program, which aims to improve safety and encourage people to walk and bicycle. As part of the study, the Public Works department will oversee the development of the Safe Routes to School Plan with input from parents, students, school administrators, and the San Gabriel Police Department. Included schools in the study include A Child’s Garden School, Coolidge Elementary School, Dewey Avenue Elementary School, Jefferson Middle School, McKinley Elementary School, San Gabriel Mission Elementary School, Roosevelt Elementary School, Saint Anthony School, San Gabriel Christian School and Washington Elementary School.

Over the coming months, the city will be investigating and evaluating the physical conditions, existing traffic controls, pedestrian and vehicular traffic and speeds around schools with the goal of improving student safety. With this information, the city will use the plan as a guide to help budget for improvements and direct resources to high-priority projects in the future. In addition, the plan will also incorporate education and outreach efforts to promote traffic safety and to encourage parents and students to walk or cycle to school.