The Michigan Fitness Foundation (MFF) is again partnering with Michigan State University (MSU) to provide technical assistance to Michigan schools interested in developing action plans that can lead to grant funding for infrastructure improvements and program support as part of the Safe Routes To School (SRTS) program funded by the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT).
The MSU Team provides the following full action plan assistance to schools:
• Assist the local school/community with the development of a SRTS action plan complete with strategies and engineering/design alternatives. This process includes conducting and analyzing surveys, walking audits, and similar activities required as part of the SRTS planning process.
• Provide design assistance. This process involves up to three local meetings attended by MSU professional designers and community planners along with professional traffic engineers.
• Provide analysis of safe routes to school site, traffic analysis, and schematic engineering drawings for proposed physical improvements such as new sidewalks, shared use pathways, bike lanes, crosswalks, ADA ramps, and signage.
• Publish the final SRTS Action Plan and provide electronic and report copies of the final products.
Partial assistance can be requested as outlined above.
How to Seek Technical Assistance:
Interested schools must provide a written statement identifying:
- Why the community/school is seeking assistance (i.e. what problems need to be addressed?)
- Progress to date on a SRTS Program (e.g. walk to school days, activities, community support)
- The type of assistance being requested (e.g. full action plan development, partial assistance for design/engineering, coordination, etc.)
The written statement must be 300 words or less and emailed to Wayne Beyea. Up to eight schools (four communities) will be selected for full action plan assistance and up to ten additional schools for partial assistance.
Assistance from the MSU team to develop SRTS Action Plans for elementary and middle/junior high schools is available starting October 1, 2017 through September 30, 2018. Funding for this assistance comes from two sources, the MDOT/MFF grant to MSU and a $3,000 local contribution from the community for full Action Plan assistance. Partial assistance does not require any local contribution.
The Michigan State University SRTS Team
MSU’s School of Planning, Design & Construction (SPDC) and College of Engineering have been awarded a grant from MFF and MDOT to assist interested schools with developing a SRTS action plan that includes engineering, design and planning alternatives. The 2017-18 fiscal year is the 8th consecutive year that MSU has been supported by MDOT and MFF, resulting in a series of successful SRTS Action Plans and subsequent grants for infrastructure and non-infrastructure improvements.