Fresno Unified working to create safer routes to school for students

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- A aviator programme present successful its 2nd twelvemonth is gaining momentum arsenic Fresno Unified looks to amended the infrastructure and postulation information surrounding metropolis schools.

On Friday, a tiny squad from Design Toole on with members from Fresno Unified's Safe Routes to School programme went connected a locomotion audit.

The radical canvased the half-mile perimeter of Fremont Elementary, a schoolhouse with 480 students, from preschool done sixth people located successful cardinal Fresno.

Those locomotion audits portion of a pilot-program to prioritize improvements to postulation information astatine each of the 106 schoolhouse sites wrong the District.

"We started this effort 2 years agone and it was truly owed to an uptick successful incidents wherever we were having students, and adjacent parents deed connected their mode to school," explained Amy Idsvoog with Fresno Unified.

Two years ago, we had 17 incidents wherever students were deed including 1 fatality with 1 of our students astatine Hoover."

Through the assistance proscription consulting firm, Toole Design, 9 Fresno Unified schools were assessed to find infrastructure improvements.

"The curb ramps are not ADA-compliant, truthful this curb ramp is going astatine an space close into the street," said Lauren Pepe, a planner with Toole Design.

Bike information apical of caput for Fremont's Vice Principal Abigail Smurr, who cycles to enactment each morning.

She advocated for her schoolhouse to person a locomotion audit.

"I bash deliberation it is captious due to the fact that a batch of our students locomotion to schoolhouse here. There are different determination schools that get picked up here, but chiefly it is simply a walking school," Smurr explained.

With walking comes crosswalk safety.

The district's Safety Office partners with Safe 2 School, a nonprofit that trains crosswalk volunteers.

Currently, determination are much than 150 volunteers stationed astatine simple and mediate schoolhouse sites.

Out of those 106 sites, lone 45 schools are protected by crosswalk volunteers.

"If I've got kids that are successful this neighborhood, they're crossing perchance 2 oregon 3 crosswalks," said Idsvoog. "No one's ever stationed here."

Fresno Unified says it is suffering from a crosswalk voluteer shortage.

Now, it's solution is recovered close present successful this crosswalk thoroughfare sign.

It weighs astir 30 pounds and costs astir a $100 a piece.

The territory says it is the solution to support some students and parents harmless during greeting drop-off and day pick-up astatine Fremont Elementary.

"No substance however they get to school, we privation to marque definite they person wide way and a harmless way to get to school," said Idsvoog.

Fresno Unified volition clasp 3 assemblage outreach meetings.

The archetypal volition instrumentality spot adjacent Tuesday astatine King Elementary.

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