Title
A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO SUBMIT AN APPLICATION TO THE OHIO DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION FOR THE SAFE ROUTES TO SCHOOL GRANT.
Brief Description: The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) awards Safe Routes to School funding to support the development and implementation of projects and activities that encourage children to walk or bike to school. The City is eligible to receive up to $1,000,000 in grant funding for a proposed sidewalk project identified in its School Travel Plan.
Body
Legislative History
Resolution No. 23-39 - Approving funding and update to the School Travel Plan, 2/24/23
Resolution No. 24-103 - Adopting the 2024 School Travel Plan, 8/13/24
Purpose & Explanation
The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) has opened applications for its Safe Routes to School (SRTS) grant program. This program aims to fund projects and activities that encourage and enable children to walk or bike to school. With an annual budget of $5 million, the SRTS program supports projects in five categories: engineering, encouragement, education, enforcement, and evaluation, encompassing both infrastructure projects and non-infrastructure activities.
The SRTS program funds eligible infrastructure projects within two miles of K-12 schools, provided the projects are identified in the city's adopted School Travel Plan. ODOT will reimburse up to 100% of eligible costs for all project phases, including preliminary engineering, detailed design, right-of-way acquisition, construction, and construction engineering.
Staff recommends submitting a proposal to ODOT for SRTS grant funding to construct a new sidewalk on Stow Road, extending from Pine Trails Circle, under I-480, to Chamberlain Road. This proposed sidewalk section is identified in both the 2024 Safe Routes to School Travel Plan and the city's 2026-2029 Walk & Bike Plan, where it is ranked as the top priority.
The project's design is 90% complete and has a total estimated cost of $675,000. Whi...
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