Announcing call for Safe Routes to School Applications & Encouragement for Walk to School Day Events

STATEWIDE – The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) is now accepting applications for Colorado’s 2013 Safe Routes to School (SRTS) funding. Awards for both non-infrastructure (education) and infrastructure (capital) projects are available. The goal of SRTS programs are to provide education to get more kids walking and bicycling where it is safe and to fix conditions where it is not safe.

Eligible applicants include schools, school districts, cities, counties, tribal entity, and/or any other local or regional government entity. Non-profits may apply by partnering with any of the above entities.

Colorado has one of the most sustainable SRTS programs in the nation. Each SRTS project selected must demonstrate in the application a strong commitment to program sustainability and ensure their SRTS efforts will live on long after their grant is concluded. SRTS grants are also performance based and before and after results are reported.

I’m sure the kids get tired of us old people saying things like, “I wish they would have had a mountain bike team when I was a kid!” But it’s true. So many of us would have been psyched to line up with what probably would have been embarrassing neon Lycra and 65 pound bikes. But we are so fortunate to live vicariously through all the high school kids in Colorado who get to practice (ride their mountain bikes) and line up for four very well run bike races every fall. It’s that time again and all over Colorado high school kids are working on their endurance, learning about passing safely, being schooled on trail etiquette and preparing for a whole new way to compete in high school sports.

Heather Irmiger with Boulder High Rider
More Photos at ColoradoMTB

This is the third year of the Colorado High School Cycling League and if history tells us anything, it should be another banner year for the league. Last year 325 athletes participated in the 2011 race series—a 78% increase from 2010. And this year there are more scholarships available to teams, coaches and riders thanks to the success of CycleFest (can you say Tom Danielson?) and the Just Go Harder Foundation. Last year 33 teams represented the state and this year there are five more teams; Rock Canyon, Highlands Ranch, Estes Park, Columbine (Littleton), Fountain Valley in Colorado Springs and Highlander also in Colorado Springs.

A few weeks ago, the Colorado Safe Routes to School State Network convened to contemplate this very question. Dave Cowan, of the Safe Routes to School National Partnership, kicked the meeting off with a status update of funding for SRTS from the new federal transportation bill passed earlier this spring. Long (and rather complicated) story short, funding for biking and walking initiatives has taken a large cut overall (from $1.2 billion in 2011 reduced to $800 million for 2012 in the current transportation bill) and the Safe Routes to School Program no longer has dedicated federal funding (in 2011 $182 million was dedicated directly to SRTS). According to Dave, "This means that Safe Routes to School projects will compete in a combined funding pot with other bicycling and walking projects as well as the new eligibilities of environmental mitigation and boulevard construction. What does this mean? It means that in order to successfully compete, potential Safe Routes to School projects will need to be leaner, meaner and more effective than ever!" It also means that momentum for SRTS will have to come from state, local, and grassroots efforts. Read more of Dave's take on the new transportation bill in his article Who Moved My Cheese?

The good news is that Colorado has an excellent history of supporting SRTS. Marissa Robinson of the Colorado Department of Transportation, shared with the audience that CDOT has already administered $14 million in grants to date and that Colorado is a leader in SRTS. In fact, one in seven Colorado schools participates in International Walk to School Day, placing us second in the nation, behind Mississippi (really? surely we can beat Mississippi this year!). Also Colorado is home to two James L. Oberstar award winning schools, Bear Creek Elementary and Heatherwood Elementary, both in Boulder. This is the highest award a school can receive for outstanding SRTS efforts and it has only been awarded fives times nationwide (impressive that Colorado has clenched it twice)! But, Marissa also emphasized the need for grassroots efforts in Colorado to keep up our momentum.

Has the USA Pro Cycling Challenge got you excited to get into racing or back into it for some? There is no better way to get into cycling than under the discipline cyclocross! No packs/peletons to stay pace with, little evil concrete to fall on and for those with families, much of the course can be seen from 1 vantage point. Downsides though are some races can happen on bitterly cold days, some believe it takes a ton of equipment to be competitive(not true), and ummm, well that's all I know.

Either way, the Colorado Cross Cup Schedule is out and take a look!