5.2 Safe Routes to Schools Presentation

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INTRODUCTION - ORGANIZATION OF THIS REPORT This report is designed to support multiple groups of people involved with Safe Routes to School in the Pequot Lakes School District,including students,caregivers,teachers,school administrators,public works staff,elected officials,and county and state employees.To help make the body of this report relevant to all readers—while also documenting all of the participation,analysis,and deliberation that went into development of the plan—some content has been moved to the Appendices. SRTS programs examine conditions around schools and conduct projects and activities that work to improve safety and accessibility and reduce traffic and air pollution near schools.Thus,these programs help make bicycling and walking to school safer and more appealing transportation choices thus encouraging a healthy and active lifestyle from an early age. The Region Five Development Commission(R5DC)has successfully developed numerous Safe Routes to School Plans for communities throughout the region,over many years.The Region Five Development Commission assists local units of governments and schools in all aspects of Safe Routes to School planning including developing a planning team,facilitating public informational meetings,facilitating planning team work sessions,administering both student and parent surveys,conducting local walk- audits,drafting the planning document itself,assisting in the adoption process,and much more. PLANNING PROCESS The Region Five Development Commission working in cooperation with the Pequot Lakes School District have developed this SRTS plan through the efforts of an ad-hoc community group of volunteers,school staff,State Health Improvement Plan(SHIP)coordinator,and professional planning consultants.This local planning team collected and analyzed information,identified issues,barriers,community needs and priorities,and developed recommendations designed to increase bicycle and pedestrian safety for students. METHODOLOGY The charge of the planning team was to provide oversight of the overall planning process as well as to provide vital input regarding issues and barriers to safety of students walking or bicycling to and from school;to identify areas of concern as well as to set forth a vision that will guide future transportation planning related to SRTS. PLANNING TEAM After being awarded the Technical Assistance grant from the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT)in 2022,the Pequot Lakes School District staff,in coordination with the Region Five Development Commission began developing a local planning team(LPT)that would represent a diverse cross section of the community.The planning team was designed to both articulate the needs of the community as they relate to SRTS as well as develop strategies and recommendations going forward.The planning team was comprised of several key stakeholders from diverse backgrounds and areas of expertise including elected officials,tribal transportation planners,educators,engineers, members of law enforcement,local transportation planners,parents,community members as well as local transportation planners. The Local Planning Team(LPT)communicated via email and met several times throughout 2022 and 2023. LPT members also oversaw the administration of both the parent survey and the in-class student tally. Additionally,the LPT conducted a walk audit and a hazard observation of school drop off and pick up at 5 I Minnesota Safe Routes to School t 4 tr Al6