Saint Paul Public Schools has received grants valued at more than $140,000 from the Minnesota Department of Transportation to make it safer for students to walk and bike to school.

SPPS will use the funding to develop Safe Routes to School plans for the following schools:

• Como Senior High School
• Como Elementary School
• Mississippi Creative Arts School
• Nokomis Montessori South
• Harding High School

Funds will also be used to purchase new bikes to upgrade the District’s aging fleet and to install bike parking at four elementary schools: Nokomis South, Como Elementary, Crossroads and Bruce Vento.

The City of Saint Paul was also awarded an additional $500,000 in Safe Routes to School grants, and some of that funding will be used to install safety bumpouts along Victoria Avenue near Maxfield Elementary School.

Safe Routes to School is an international program to improve safety and reduce traffic congestion around schools. It does this by making it safer and easier for students to walk and bike to school, with an added benefit of increasing physical activity and student health.

The SPPS Safe Routes to School program examines conditions around schools and conducts projects and activities that work to improve safety and accessibility, and reduce traffic and air pollution in the vicinity of schools. As a result, these programs help make bicycling and walking to school safer and more appealing transportation choices, thus encouraging a healthy and active lifestyle from an early age.

For more information, visit spps.org/saferoutes or contact Sarah Stewart, Safe Routes to School Lead, sarah.stewart@spps.org.