More than 50 communities across Minnesota to benefit from grant funding
We are excited to share some good news! More than 50 communities and school districts across Minnesota will receive a share of Safe Routes to School grant funding from the Minnesota Department of Transportation to support walking and bicycling.
Five different grant opportunities were offered to schools and communities in the 2020-21 school year to help advance various SRTS. View a list of Safe Routes grant recipients (PDF)
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Boost grants support schools and/or their non-profit partners to implement SRTS programs. This year we saw exciting initiatives to support Walking School Bus staff, new Bike Fleets, “Stop for Me” campaigns and new bike maintenance class programs in school districts.
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Planning Assistance grants provide communities the resources to convene a team, understand key issues, prioritize strategies and identify solutions that fit the local need.
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Engineering Study funding support communities who have identified areas of concerns in SRTS plans but still needs some help with traffic studies and design. These studies enable communities to understand the cost and feasibility of projects as they look for infrastructure funding within city/county budgets and upcoming projects or seek other grants.
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Demonstration Projects Technical Assistance awards allow communities to pilot test designs that will improve safety and comfort for walkers and bicyclists. These short term, low cost projects allow the community to see if the proposed engineering solution will improve identified problems and determine how a more permanent solution could be implemented.
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Infrastructure grants provide construction funding for projects that promote and encourage more students to walk or bicycle to school by making the routes safer and more accessible. Projects can include sidewalks, trails, crosswalk markings, flashing beacons and other traffic control devices.
The Safe Routes to School grants in this solicitation are funded with state and federal Safe Routes to School dollars. Historically, more than 70 percent of Safe Routes to School funds have supported work within greater Minnesota communities. Read more to see which communities received funding.
Bike to Anywhere Day - May 6
Schools may be closed for the year, but we can still ride our bike on what used to be Bike to School Day. This year we are celebrating “Bike to Anywhere Day” and want you to choose your own adventure. Share those adventures on Facebook using the hashtag #MNbikeday or send us your photos at saferoutes.dot@state.mn.us.
We’ve created materials for teachers, students and families to use to celebrate Bike Month and Minnesota’s Bike to Anywhere Day:
Walk! Bike! Fun! curriculum distance learning materials
We’ve adapted our walking and biking activities from our Walk! Bike Fun! curriculum for distance learning to help families at home or childcare providers. These lessons include worksheets and outdoor walking and biking activities. These new resources have options of how the student or child may complete it, depending on the equipment and technology available to them. We’re all learning how to learn again, so feel free to use and adapt these to meet your needs as a teacher, parent or caregiver.
Safe Routes in the news
Rapid City boy bikes to school 1,000 days in a row! Bohdi Linde’s daily commute is two miles and he started riding with his Dad in kindergarten to get comfortable with the route. By fourth grade, Linde was riding to school by himself. While Linde’s school was shut down because of coronavirus, he still rode his route to school to get his 1,000th trip in. This is an inspiring story, are kids at your school keeping track of their rides?
Building a new school building?
MnDOT is looking to partner with a school district that is considering different sites for a new building. Please email saferoutes.dot@state.mn.us if your district is willing to participate.
Share your story with us
What’s working in your school, district or community to get more kids walking and biking? We’d love to share your story in our next newsletter. Please email saferoutes.dot@state.mn.us with the work you are proud of and we will help you craft your story.
Upcoming events
May 14, 10-11 a.m. and June 11, 10-11 a.m.
Join folks from across the state to learn from each other’s successes and find new ideas for your community. We will share Minnesota updates and provide space for a peer to peer exchange.
More about MnSRTS
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