We keep talking about school safety and biking/walking, now let’s DO something about it!

Send your input/ideas to erica@bikeestes.org

CHAPEL HILL, NC (September 10, 2014) — The National Center for Safe Routes to School and Schwinn’s Helmets on Heads program are teaming up to provide 25 $1,000 mini-grants to 25 schools across the country.  These mini-grants support a common goal of both organizations:  to support educators, communities and families in encouraging children to safely bike to school.

“Communities across the country continue to be creative and successful in finding ways to make it safer for children to bicycle to school,” says Lauren Marchetti, Director of the National Center.  “We want to use these mini-grants to help support schools in their efforts to cultivate a culture of safe bicycling and helmet use for students.”

Applications are now being accepted for mini-grant activities planned for the second half of the 2014-2015 school year. These funds can be used to fund activities ranging from the nuts and bolts to help start or sustain bicycling programs, to new, inspiring ideas that explore the range of benefits of safe bicycling.  Selected mini-grant proposals will fit a school’s needs and interests around safe bicycling and helmet safety education, and will require that correct helmet use be a mandatory component of any program. Recipients are also asked to share the Helmets on Heads pledge with students or youth involved in their program.

“Schwinn, through the Helmets on Heads initiative, is excited to team up with the National Center to offer support to schools throughout the U.S.,” says Milissa Rick, Global Director of Consumer Activation, Pacific Cycle. “These grants will aid local communities in educating children and parents about the importance of wearing a helmet each and every time they ride a bicycle. And we think that this kind of local level education is one of the best ways to help instill good cycling habits.”

Mini-grant applications are due Wednesday, October 22, 2014, and award winners will be announced in December. The mini-grant activities should occur between January 1, 2015, and the end of the Spring 2015 semester.

Download the application

The Town of Estes Park has received a $4.2 million grant through the Colorado Department of  Transportation (CDOT) Responsible Acceleration of Maintenance and Partnerships (RAMP) program.
Coupled with the $13 million grant from the Federal Lands Access Program, the RAMP grant will fund major transit and highway improvements in downtown Estes Park. Town Administrator Frank Lancaster noted, “Now that funding is known, the Town and its partners at the Federal Highway Administration and CDOT will establish a plan for the project, proceed with contacting affected property owners, and embark on an extensive public input process and environmental assessment.” After these studies are complete, the new road could be built in 2016. Lancaster continued, “We have again reached out to property owners adjacent to the route – we intend to keep them informed throughout the process.”

After extensive public outreach in March including invitations to property owners adjacent to the potential project, the Town Board voted to proceed with a grant application to realign traffic with a new one-way couplet. The realignment will convert Elkhorn Avenue from East Riverside Drive to Moraine Avenue, and Moraine Avenue south of Elkhorn Avenue to West Riverside Drive, into one-way thoroughfares for westbound traffic. Moraine Avenue will then revert to two-way traffic going west from the intersection. In addition, a new one-way road for eastbound traffic will be constructed along a route similar to West Riverside Drive as it travels from Moraine Avenue to East Riverside Drive near Ivy Street, continuing to Elkhorn Avenue. At Elkhorn Avenue, east-bound traffic will become two-way again.

The reroute will increase mobility, support the economy by providing better access to businesses, reduce traffic congestion frustrations and improve air quality and the overall safety of our residents and guests. Traffic engineers estimate the couplet will increase capacity by approximately 40 percent, significantly reducing traffic congestion.

Town Administrator Frank Lancaster noted, “This project will ease traffic flow and accessibility downtown, benefiting the residents and businesses of Estes Park.” The project was recommended by several transportation studies to improve traffic flow and access to Rocky Mountain National Park. For more information, please contact the Town Public Information Office at 970-577-3701. To receive Town news and/or meeting agendas in your email inbox, please email townadmin@estes.org.