ATTACHMENT 2

To: Active Living by Design Partnership Advisory Committee

From: Greg Bell and Martha Conway on behalf of the Safe Routes to School Subcommittee

Re: Capitol Improvements Program Request

Date: 10 March 2005

We respectfully request your assistance in preparing a CIP request for sidewalks in the neighborhoods surrounding Ephesus Elementary School. The following “draft” request is based upon information obtained during the course of various efforts associated with our Safe Routes to School initiative.

In keeping with the goals of our Safe Routes to School initiative, the purpose implicit in this Capitol Improvements Program (CIP) Request is to

• improve the health and well-being of children by assessing and taking measures to improve walking and biking conditions on the routes to school and enabling and encouraging children to walk and bike these routes.

Specifically the goals of our Safe Routes to School initiative include

• determining the safest routes for walking and biking to Ephesus Elementary School;

• recommending safety improvements to those routes; and

• encouraging more children to use those routes to walk and bike to school.

The following request for physical improvements to the pedestrian infrastructure surrounding the school is based upon information obtained in the course of the following activities:

Parent Survey We surveyed parents to find out how children usually travel to and from school and to learn about the concerns that some parents may have regarding safety and other issues associated with walking and biking to school. We received approximately 150 completed questionnaires. A summary of the survey data is appended to this memorandum.

Walk Zone Audit Using an audit tool provided by the Town, we assessed the pedestrian network in the Ephesus walk zone to gather baseline data about safe (and unsafe) routes for walking and biking to school. A map detailing the results of the walk zone audit is appended to this memorandum.

Given what we know and what we have learned about the “walkability” of our neighborhood, and based on what we have heard from the community of Ephesus Elementary School parents, we request that sidewalks be constructed (or completed) as follows:

Priority #1

• Ephesus Church Road (south side) from 15/501 bypass (N. Fordham Blvd.) to Eden Lane

• Legion Road (both sides) from Scarlett Drive to Ephesus Church Road

Priority #2

• Longleaf Drive

• Churchill Drive

• Eden Lane/Cypress Road/Spruce Street

• Tinkerbell Road

Priority #3

• Emory Drive

• Willow Drive

• Ferrell Road

• Landerwood Lane

• Thornwood Road

• Frances Street

Additionally, we are forming two work groups that will be charged with addressing the following Safe Routes to School-related initiatives:

• a request for traffic calming measures in some of the neighborhoods surrounding Ephesus Elementary School, where speeding vehicles and cut-through traffic pose significant safety concerns

• a “walking school bus” program in which adult volunteers (drivers) take turns leading small groups of children (riders) to and from school along designated routes

Finally, we will make an immediate request that crosswalks be painted where the following streets intersect with Ephesus Church Road:

• Sharon Road

• Landerwood Lane

• Tinkerbell Road (both sides)

• Longleaf Drive

• Churchill Drive

• Eden Lane