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Anderson Township Safe Routes to School Plan

Improving Education and Awareness of Pedestrian Crossings

around Elementary and Middle Schools

Prepared by the Anderson Township Development Services Department for Review by Key Stakeholder Groups in the Anderson Community

Ultimate Recommendations to be Forwarded to the Ohio Department of

Transportation As Part of a Safe Routes to School Grant Application

Anderson Township, Ohio

SEPTEMBER 6, 2007

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Anderson Township Safe Routes to School Plan (September 6, 2007) Page 1

Table of Contents Section 1: School Travel Plan Team Members …..……………………….... 2 Section 2: Introduction ……..………………………………………………….. 3 Section 3: The Public Input Process ………………………………………….. 4 Section 4: Scope ………………………………………………………………….. 5 Section 5: School Demographics …...………………………………………….. 7 Section 6: Current School Travel Environment ………………………….... 8 Section 7: Barriers to Active Transportation ……..……………………….... 10 Section 8: Creating Solutions and Countermeasures ….…………………. 12 Section 9: Improvements Mapping ………………………………………….. 13 Section 10: The Action Plan ………………………………………………….. 21 Section 11: Plan Endorsements …….………………………………………….. 22 Section 12: Supporting Documents ..………………………………………….. 23 Appendix 1: School Area Improvements – Aerial Photographs Appendix 2: Supporting Documents


Section 1: School Travel Plan Team Members The Anderson Safe Routes to School Plan reflects the consolidation of a tremendous amount of planning efforts that have been conducted by professionals (consultants), Township staff, citizen committee members, citizens, School Districts, and other governmental agencies, geared at improving the pedestrian travel environment in Anderson Township, Hamilton County, Ohio. These include the Anderson Township Comprehensive Plan, Anderson Trails Plan (and related updates), Beechmont Corridor Plan (and related updates), Anderson Trails Crossing Plan, and Forest Hills School District Facilities planning efforts. The individuals who served on one or more of these planning efforts, from which recommendations were utilized in this Plan, and/or were brought together to review this Plan, include the following:

Russ Jackson, Anderson Township Board of Trustees President

Henry Dolive, Anderson Township Administrator

Steve Sievers, Anderson Township Development Services Director

Tom Caruso, Anderson Trails Coordinator

Ken Vincent, Anderson Township Transportation Advisory Committee

Dottie Scott, Anderson Safe Community Coordinator (Ohio Department of Public Safety and Hamilton County General Health District Program)

Ray Johnson, Forest Hills School District Director of Business Operations

Phil Sinkovich, Forest Hills School District Administrative Assistant

Dave Boiman, Hamilton County Sheriffs Office Safe Community Coordinator

Tom Langenbrunner, Hamilton County Engineers Office Traffic Supervisor

Carolyn Moseley, Anderson Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director


Section 2: Introduction The Anderson Trails program, developed in the early 1990s, has facilitated the construction of over 10 miles of sidewalks and trails, primarily linking residences to schools, parks, retail areas, public transportation and other attractions. Unfortunately, retrofitting the existing environment of a post-war suburb like Anderson has resulted in the complication of providing safe crossings for pedestrians. This is particularly a concern with those locations that lie in close proximity to one of the Township’s six elementary and one middle school, where they would see a high use by children.

As a result, the Anderson Safe Routes to School Plan has been prepared to make specific recommendations for improving the safety of students in crosswalks around these schools. The Plan contains a mixture of both infrastructure and non-infrastructure recommendations, which are targeted at schoolchildren, parents, and motorists in these school areas. The intent is to provide a greater level of awareness in the community as to the visibility and safety of these areas, but also to help teach children and adults alike as to how to use crosswalks, and when in vehicles, to accommodate those in crosswalks.


Section 3: The Public Input Process As referenced above in Section 1, this Plan represents a specific plan of action that was a recommendation of past planning efforts. These prior planning efforts, including the preparation of the Township’s Comprehensive Plan and Anderson Trails Plan, heavily relied on public input for their recommendations. Public input strategies that were tapped as a part of this process included, but were not limited to, public input workshops, email and other feedback opportunities, community surveys, public hearings.

From these efforts, several suggestions were offered to improve the pedestrian environment within the Township, and based on these suggestions, staff, along with the citizen member Transportation Advisory Committee and several stakeholders that were part of this planning process (Forest Hills School District, Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office, Hamilton County Engineer’s Office, etc.), arrived at the recommendations in this Plan. Thus, with the specific scope of this

Plan’s recommendations, which again were the result of prior Plans and public input, it was not felt that additional public meetings were needed. The public will, however, be closely involved in the method for distributing information and providing feedback on the implementation strategies discussed in this Plan. In addition, future updates of this Plan will be made based upon the following forthcoming input techniques:

• Student surveys & walking activities • Parent surveys • Teacher interviews – those involved in greeting/dismissing students from

the school campus • School Administrator and Wellness committee recommendations • Interviews with law enforcement and local engineers involved in school

safety


Section 4: Scope The Anderson Safe Routes to School Plan is intended to provide crosswalk safety recommendations that will apply to each of the six public elementary and one public middle school in Anderson Township, Ohio. These are all are part of the Forest Hills Local School District, and represent all of the Forest Hills School District enrollment in grades Kindergarten through 8th Grade. These schools, including t heir address (a map also appears on the following page denoting these locations), grade levels, and latest enrollment figures, are as follows:

• Nagel Middle School- 1500 Nagel Road (Grades 7 & 8 – 1,278 Students) • Ayer Elementary School - 8471 Forest Road (Grades K through 6 - 634

Students) • Maddux Elementary School - 943 Rosetree Lane (Grades K through 6 -

614 Students) • Mercer Elementary School - 2600 Bartels Road (Grades K through 6 -

735 Students) • Sherwood Elementary School - 7080 Grantham Way (Grades K through

6 - 545 Students) • Summit Elementary School - 8400 Northport Drive (Grades K through 6 -

556 Students) • Wilson Elementary School - 2465 Little Dry Run Road (Grades K through

6 - 616 Students)


Section 5: School Demographics Sine this Plan is indeed to reach all elementary through middle school (Kindergarten through 8th Grade) students in Anderson Township, which is also the entire the Forest Hills School District for these grade levels, district-wide demographic data is provided below:

• Caucasian – 93.5% • African American – 1.1% • Hispanic – 1.1% • Asian- 2.3% • Native American – .1% • Multi-Racial – 1.9%

• Low Income Students – 5% • Students With Limited English Proficiency – <1% • Special Education Students – 10.1%


Section 6: Current School Travel Environment Each day, nearly 5,000 students travel to and from one of the Township’s six elementary and one middle school. At this time, specific travel information for each of these schools has not been tabulated, but it is hoped that travel surveys can be conducted in the coming year, and as this Safe Routes to School Plan is updated in the future, this information will help to provide a baseline for monitoring the success of efforts to improve the number of children walking to school. Currently, it is estimated that less than 15% of these students walk or ride a bike to school. The overwhelming majority of students, district wide for these grade levels, use the school buses, when provided. Also, as is seen in national trends, there is also a rising number of parent drop offs and pick ups. Again, these figures vary, depending on the school, and the parent trips are much higher at Nagel Middle School, than the elementary schools.

It should also be noted, however, that several of the schools that are part of this Plan are located in a built environment that is more pedestrian friendly. The School District maintains a list of streets that are currently served by school bus services, and those areas that must walk or find another means of travel to school. For example, Maddux, Sherwood and Summit elementary schools have a much higher percentage of walkers, since the homes are closer to the school and

there are no major streets to cross. Conversely, no students are assigned to walk to Mercer at the current time, and the figures for Ayer and Wilson, which historically did not have good sidewalk access, are low as the nature that most students are bussed to these schools. Finally, since Nagel Middle School serves the entire Township, the overwhelming majority of students are bussed to school, as they could live several miles, and across two more heavily traveled roads, from the school. The map in Section 4 helps to reflect the number of home and their relationship to each of these schools. Again, at the elementary level, the number of parcels of land within one and two miles of each school building are as follows (there are 20,002 total parcels in Anderson Township):

• Ayer Elementary School – 2,007 & 6,290 • Maddux Elementary School – 4,090 & 9,840 • Mercer Elementary School – 2,193 & 6,595 • Sherwood Elementary School – 3,842 & 11,997 • Summit Elementary School – 3,609 & 8,938 • Wilson Elementary School – 2,799 & 9,920


Finally, the number of homes within one and two miles of Nagel, the Township’s only middle school, are 4,652 and 11,047 respectively.

The Forest Hills School District has done a very good job at coordinating the arrival and dismissal procedures for each of these schools. This has involved separate drop off & pick up locations from bus traffic, and also the early dismal of walkers and bicycle riders so as to minimize interferences with these other modes of traffic. As part of this Plan, it is suggested that these policies and strategies continue to be reviewed to ensure safety but also encourage walking and bicycling to school when possible. Eliminating any individual school policies prohibiting bicycling, for example, will help this situation, as would an extended outreach to those students (and parents) who live in close proximity to school, about the safety measures and routes these students should take when coming to school.

Finally, with the improvement of crosswalks and continued extension of sidewalks around schools, it is hoped that more students who are bused to school because of local hazards, such as a heavily traveled roadway, will consider walking or bicycling to school. It is not the intent of this Plan or the Anderson Safe Routes to School Program to eliminate bus service from these areas, rather it is to make walking or bicycling to school a more attractive option to these parents and students. As outlined earlier, more information is needed in this area. Site surveys, identifying travel patterns and volume of travel by mode, coupled with parent and student travel surveys, will help to better identify roadblocks that could be overcome to make walking and bicycling to school a more attractive option. This information will also help to chart the success of this Safe Routes to School effort in Anderson Township.


Section 7: Barriers to Active Transportation As outlined earlier, much work has been done in recent years by Anderson Township and the Forest Hills School District to remove barriers to walking or bicycling to school. This has been highlighted by the construction of sidewalks around schools, and additional walks are planned for the years to come to continue to increase the network of paths that link student to school. It has also entailed a greater dedication of school officials to students on foot or bicycle, as well as Township staff to modify zoning and other regulations to better accommodate sidewalks and trail connections of new developments with schools. Therefore, the focus of this Plan involves the critical crossings around these schools, and identifies strategies, both infrastructure and non-infrastructure, which will help to improve the safety and awareness of these key crossings. It is hoped that through physical improvements, as well as educational literature to students, parents, and motorists, that the impact of the speed, volume and width of these roadways can be managed to better accommodate pedestrians. As an outgrowth of several of the recommendations of this Plan, additional comments may surface in the coming years about other barriers to walking to

school. These could include general concerns (travel speed, dismissal times of students, etc.), or school specific matters such as overgrown brush, a problem house or pet, etc. Therefore, it is likely that future updates to this Plan could be broadened in scope to provide recommendations that would mitigate these other factors.


Section 8: Creating Solutions and Countermeasures Thus far, this Plan has helped to present the background of Anderson Township, and current state of walking and bicycling around the Township’s schools. The balance of this Plan will seek to identify overall goals, which have been alluded to earlier, as well as related strategies that fit into one of the five “E”s of the Safe Routes to School program, which are: Engineering, Education, Enforcement, Encouragement, and Evaluation. The two overriding Goals of the Anderson Safe Routes to Schools Plan are as follows:

1. Improve the safety of students and parents who currently utilize an existing crosswalk to travel to school, and maintain a low number of accidents in these areas.

2. Increase the number of students and parent who walk or bicycle to school, which would be evidenced by on site, student, and parent surveys conducted prior to and after elements of the Safe Routes to School Plan are implemented.

With these goals in mind, the strategies that will be tapped to help reach these goals, and placed in a context of the 5 “E”s, are as follows: Engineering

• Eng1 - Apply for Safe Routes to School Funding for the infrastructure improvements suggested in this Plan

• Eng 2 - Construct the infrastructure improvements suggested in this Plan, as well as consider future enhancements, such as digital speed readout devices in school zones, as funding is available

Education

• Ed1 - Distribute information sheets to parents on pedestrian and crosswalk safety to be taken home with elementary schoolchildren

• Ed2 - Create a community-wide education campaign, that entails stories in the Forest Hills Journal, Anderson Insights newsletter, and School/School District newsletters about crosswalk safety and traffic laws

• Ed3 - Incorporate bicycling or walking safety into the curriculum, using lesson plans available on the Safe Routes to School website

Enforcement

• Enf1 - Utilize School Resource Officer to conduct random before and after school monitoring of transportation patterns

• Enf2 - Utilize Hamilton County Sheriff’s Community Resource Officers, Bike Patrol, and the LOOK (Local Officers Observing Kids) program to monitor traffic law compliance in school zones, especially related to crosswalks


Encouragement • Enc1 - Create a ½ day school enrichment program and/or wellness

related program for 2nd Grade students at all elementary schools to teach safe walking and bicycling practices, especially in relation to crosswalks

• Enc 2 - Host annual Walk to School day at all elementary schools where the potential for at least 10% of the students can walk to school (i.e. sidewalks and appropriate infrastructure exists)

• Enc3 - Create incentive program or contests for classes to chart walking, not only too school but in other aspects of life (since all schools do not have the same pedestrian environment), such as through school wellness committees, marathon related events, walk-a-thons, etc.

• Enc4 - In environments where the potential exists for at least 10% of the students to walk to school, work with the School PTA and nearby parents to create walking school bus program, using both older children and parents

Evaluation

• Ev1 - Conduct annual surveys of each school, beginning at those schools where the potential exists for at least 10% of the students to walk to school, to monitor how students travel to school

• Ev2 - Conduct survey at each school of parents about how students get to school, as well as factors that prohibit their child from walking or bicycling to school


Section 9: Improvements Mapping As discussed several times in this Plan, there are both infrastructure and non-infrastructure improvements that are suggested to help improve pedestrian and bicycle travel to Township schools. While the non-infrastructure recommendations will be discussed in more detail in Section 10, the infrastructure related recommendations are outlined below. Specifically, enhancements are proposed for areas within ½ mile of six of these schools, and

maps of these areas are also attached showing the relationship of these crossings to the schools that they help to serve. A description of the techniques proposed for each intersection are discussed at the end of this Section, and aerial photographs of the area around each school also appear in Appendix 1.

Location #1 – Eight Mile @ Northport (Summit Elementary School) Estimated Improvement Cost - $4,800

• Add pedestrian countdown signals to the three legs of the intersection

with crosswalks (6 signals)


Location #2 – State @ Nagel (Nagel Middle School) Estimated Improvement Cost - $6,400

• Add pedestrian countdown signals to all four legs of the intersection (8

signals)

Location #3 - Forest @ Pamela/Ayer Entrance (Ayer Elementary School) Estimated Improvement Cost - $8,300

• Improve Striping of Crosswalk • Add pedestrian activated flashing walk sign to improve visibility • Arrow signage is needed at crosswalk location • Advance warning signs traveling eastbound is needed • Add pedestrian signage


Location #4 - Newtown @ Stirrup (Mercer Elementary School) Estimated Improvement Cost - $9,300

• Improve Striping of Crosswalk • Handicapped ramp is needed on north side of Newtown (Stirrup Corner) • Add pedestrian activated flashing walk signs • Arrow signage is needed at crosswalk location • Advance crosswalk warning signs are needed traveling northbound • Add pedestrian signage

Location #5 - State @ Half Circle (Sherwood Elementary School) Estimated Improvement Cost - $9,500

• Improve Striping of Crosswalk • Advance crosswalk signs do not exist • Remove brush and possible pole obstruction • Add pedestrian activated flashing walk signs • Improve ramp on west side of State (on Half Circle) from asphalt to

concrete • Add pedestrian signage


Location #6 – Little Dry Run @ Old Forge (Wilson Elementary School) Estimated Improvement Cost - $18,500

• New Striping of Crosswalk • Add pedestrian activated flashing walk signs • Advance crosswalk signs do not exist • Advance crosswalk signs are needed • Construct new handicapped ramps with related sidewalk connections • Add pedestrian signage

Location #7 - Forest @ Nottingham/Vet. Park (Ayer Elementary School) Estimated Improvement Cost - $8,400

• Improve Striping of Crosswalk • Add pedestrian activated flashing walk sign • Park Entrance sign is needed on Forest • Advance warning signs are needed • Add pedestrian signage


Location #8 - Forest @ Anderson Glen (Ayer Elementary School) Estimated Improvement Cost - $8,300

• Improve Striping of Crosswalk • Add pedestrian activated flashing walk signs • Crosswalk needs fresh paint • Advance signage is needed at crosswalk location • Add pedestrian signage

Location #9 - Nagel @ Clough (Nagel Middle School) Estimated Improvement Cost - $3,200

• Add pedestrian countdown signals to two legs of the intersection (4

signals)


Map of Infrastructure Improvement Areas


Description of Crosswalk Treatment Examples A description and image of the techniques that are suggested to be incorporated into one or more of the aforementioned crosswalk locations include the following: All crosswalks shall have advance signage (approximately 300’ in advance of crossing) as well as signage at the crosswalk with an arrow pointing to the pavement marking. Estimated Cost: $200/sign Accessible handicapped ramps, even if only pads at the current time with no connecting sidewalk, these shall be installed at each location Estimated Cost: $1,000/ramp


Signage perpendicular to the road warning pedestrians of the crossing (i.e. stop, proceed only when traffic is stopped, etc.) shall be installed adjacent to the crosswalks or markings on pavement Estimated Cost: $300/pair Pedestrian activated flashing walk sign Estimated Cost: $7,500/pair


Section 10: The Action Plan Goals and strategies for the Anderson Safe Routes to School Plan were outlined earlier under Section 8, and the infrastructure improvements around each school were depicted in more detail under Section 9. The details of how these strategies would be implemented, and the related action steps, time frame, responsible party, and funding source, among other items, are presented below (the strategy name/detail numbered below correspond with those identified in Section 8):

It is important to note that this Plan represents an initial Safe Routes to School campaign, and related activities. As these elements are introduced and more information is gathered as to the state of school travel for each school, future updates of this Plan must occur. These will then have more baseline

information, on which to frame recommendations, as well as a heightened understanding of each school's unique circumstances.

Strategy Type Strategy Name/Detail Time Frame Responsible Party Status Funding Source

Engineering Eng 1 Sept. 2007 Anderson Township Applic. Prepared Anderson TownshipEngineering Eng 2 May 2008 Anderson Township (A.T.), H.C. Engineers Applic. Submitted Grant

Education Ed 1 October 2008 A.T. (Create) & Forest Hills (F.H. - Distrib.) Examples Found A.T. & F.H.Education Ed 2 October 2008 Anderson Township Have Past Articles Anderson TownshipEducation Ed 3 November 2008 A.T. (Create) & F.H. (Implement) Examples Found A.T. & F.H.

Enforcement Enf 1 October 2008 Hamilton County Sheriff's Office Ongoing H.C. Sheriff & A.T.Enforcement Enf 2 October 2008 Hamilton County Sheriff's Office Ongoing H.C. Sheriff & A.T.

Encouragement Enc 1 October 2008 A.T., Trans. Adv. Com., F.H. Examples Found T.B.D.Encouragement Enc 2 October 2008 A.T., Trans. Adv. Com., F.H. Annual Event Private ContriutionsEncouragement Enc 3 October 2008 A.T., Trans. Adv. Com., F.H. Examples Found T.B.D.

Evaluation Ev 1 April 2008 & October 2008 A.T. (Create & Tabulate) & F.H. (Implement) Examples Found Anderson TownshipEvaluation Ev 2 April 2008 & October 2008 A.T. (Create & Tabulate) & F.H. (Implement) Examples Found Anderson Township


Section 11: Plan Endorsements The successful implementation of the Anderson Safe Routes to School Plan relies on the ability of the Township to partner with a number of other agencies and organizations. At the top of this list is the Forest Hills School District, who is most aware of district-wide and school specific issues that may impact crosswalk safety and pedestrian travel to school. The School District also has the ability to best reach children and their parents, which is suggested in this Plan’s recommendation. Another key agency, with control of the county roadways for which infrastructure improvements are suggested, is the County Engineers Office. Finally, enforcement of this Plan’s recommendations rests, in part, with the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office.

Therefore, the support of each of these agencies is critical to the Plan’s success. It is hoped that each of these agencies ultimately embrace the recommendations of this Plan. This support is also critical to the Township securing Safe Routes to School funding for infrastructure related improvements to school crossings of county roadways.


Section 12: Supporting Documents As outlined through this Plan, there are a number of existing Plans and policy documents that were used to help arrive at the recommendation in this document. These include sections of the Anderson Township Comprehensive Plan, the Anderson Trails Plan, and the Anderson Trails Crossing Plan, and pertinent sections can be found in Appendix 2. Sections of the Anderson Trails Plan that have been completed, which have resulted in the desire for improved crosswalks, are highlighted accordingly. It is anticipated that additional supporting documents will be added to this area, including Resolutions of Support for this Plan, in the coming years, and especially with future updates of this Plan.


Appendix 1

School Area Improvements – Aerial Photographs


Appendix 2: Supporting Documents

Past Planning Efforts Resolutions of Support

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