It’s not considered safe to walk to some Puyallup schools. The city has a $100,000 plan
A new master plan that addresses safe school routes — or lack thereof — in Puyallup is in the works.
The city approved a $100,000 contract with consulting firm Fehr & Peers this month to analyze existing routes and develop 10 priority projects meant to enhance walking routes for students.
“The goal for the plan is to create a project list to improve conditions for traveling to and from Puyallup schools and identify education, encouragement and enforcement opportunities and strategies at Puyallup schools,” according to an agenda report submitted by Public Works Director Rob Andreotti.
Concerns about safe routes
For years, a group of parents living within the walking zone of Ferrucci Junior High has stressed the unsafe routes their children took to school.
“I’m scared to death. Some of these kiddos — it’s a matter of time before someone gets hurt,” Puyallup resident and parent Heather Cogger told The Herald in May.
The route in question is along Wildwood Park Drive from 31st Avenue Southeast to Ferrucci Junior High. The city was awarded a state grant in 2016 to complete a sidewalk in 2017, but due to “funding constraints at the state level,” the project was delayed, upsetting some parents.
“I’m frustrated, to say the least, that so far there has been no movement on this project that was approved in 2015,” Puyallup resident and parent Kristen Griffin said in an email on Aug. 22.
Griffin added that “until they address the ones already identified” she has no trust in the city managing new projects that could be identified in the master plan.
Councilwoman Julie Door, who has worked to address the issue since 2015 and who represents the district encompassing Ferrucci, admitted she was frustrated about the delay, too.
“We have to ensure that our kids get to school safely,” she said.
This year, the city decided to move forward with constructing a sidewalk along Wildwood, even though it will not receive grant funding until 2019. The grant will reimburse the city for the project next year. The project is at 60-percent design with hopes to go to bid this year, Andreotti said.
Time line of the plan
While Ferucci parents have been vocal about their concerns, the junior high isn’t the only school where potential walking-route problems exist.
The master plan identified 17 total schools in Puyallup that should be subject to study:
Fruitland Elementary School
Karshner Elementary School
Maplewood Elementary School
Meeker Elementary School
Stewart Elementary School
Spinning Elementary School
Shaw Road Elementary School
Wildwood Elementary School
Sunrise Elementary School
Aylen Junior High School
Kalles Junior High School
Ferrucci Junior High School
Puyallup High School
All Saints Catholic School
Cascade Christian Elementary School
Cascade Christian Junior/Senior High School
Northwest Christian School
The Puyallup School District will be involved in the development of the plan, according to the city.
“To my knowledge, the District hasn’t been invited to participate formerly as of yet, but I would expect that city staff will be in touch soon now that council has approved the consultant contract for the master plan,” Brian Devereux, director of facilities planning with the Puyallup School District, wrote in an email on Aug. 22. “We look forward to working with the city to support safe routes to schools!”
Fehr & Peers will start by reviewing existing conditions and develop a map showing transportation networks for both pedestrians and bicyclists around each school. The firm will then identify obstacles, gaps and missing links within the routes. It’ll also analyze collision data and make site visits to each school.
The public will be kept in the loop; three public meetings are anticipated to be scheduled in January, with constant online outreach and updates.
A list of 10 priority projects will be assembled between December and January. They’ll be based on “feasibility, cost, implementation time line, school involvement and support,” according to the development plan.
The plan will address implementation of the “Six E’s of Safe Routes to School: Education, Encouragement, Engineering, Enforcement, Evaluation, and Equity.”
Two council meeting and school board presentations will be held on the subject, one in October 2018 and February 2019.
This story was originally published August 27, 2018 at 10:00 AM.