Matt Driscoll: Tacoma poised to launch a ‘Safe Routes to School’ program

The momentum is building for the implementation of an official “Safe Routes to School” program in Tacoma.

What shape that plan will ultimately take, what it will cost and how long it will all take are yet to be determined.

But the push in that direction from the mayor, the City Council and the Tacoma School District is undeniable.

And for anyone who’s ever worried about pedestrian safety, particularly as it relates to kids arriving safely at school, this can be seen as nothing but good news.

First things first: What is a “Safe Routes to School” program? And don’t all Tacoma elementary schools already have a Safe Walking Routes program already in place?

The answer to the second question is yes. But a big part of the answer to the first question is that it will take more than identifying generally safe, walkable routes to Tacoma’s elementary schools to get us where we need to be.

In late October, I wrote about the Puyallup Watershed Initiative’s effort to get a Safe Routes to School program started in Tacoma. Led by Liz Kaster, the organization crunched the numbers and found that between 2010 and 2014, 222 kids ages 18 and under were hit by cars in Tacoma while walking or bicycling.

That’s an accident every eight days.

And as I pointed out at the time, the occurrence of these accidents was significantly higher in areas of Tacoma with the highest percentages of people of color and poor families. In other words, the farther you get from Tacoma’s largely white and well-off neighborhoods in the North End, the more often kids on foot or on bike are getting hit by cars.

As Kaster describes it, a Safe Routes to School program features a number of elements designed to help improve pedestrian safety throughout a city, with equity in mind. There’s the obvious stuff, such as physical improvements to crosswalks, sidewalks and school zones. But successful programs also aim for more, like targeted educational efforts for drivers and pedestrians.

For Tacoma, the first step will be developing a citywide implementation plan for what it will take — including identifying where the trouble spots are and what resources already exist. On Tuesday, the City Council directed City Manager T.C. Broadnax to start work in this direction.

Councilman Ryan Mello tells me creating the implementation plan could cost in the ballpark of $60,000, money he’s confident the city has on hand in either existing budgets or through the ongoing mid-biennium budget adjustment, which found the city has some $2.33 million in money available for reallocation.

Councilman Robert Thoms, on the other hand, doesn’t want to name a price just yet, in part because he thinks partners such as the school district should foot some of the bill.

“The cost is going to be shared,” he tells me. “And whatever it costs, we’ll get it done.”

Regardless of the underlying political maneuvering, the goal is to have a fleshed-out Safe Routes plan ready by early next year so the city can apply for state and federal grants. Making these strides would also help the city in future budgeting, including the allocation of taxes voters approved last month for pedestrian safety and other street projects.

Thoms tells me he thinks at least some of the school zone improvement work can begin by next summer.

Meanwhile, Mayor Marilyn Strickland and Tacoma Schools spokesman Dan Voelpel say that discussions are ongoing about the launch of what the mayor calls a “strong education component.” It would teach things such as safe ways parents can drop their kids off at school and safe ways drivers can drive through school zones. On this front, Voelpel says we could see something by early January.

“We are well on our way to creating a historic effort on safety for our kids and our schools,” Thoms says of the recent developments.

“Historic” might be a bit of a stretch, but if action is imminent on a Safe Routes to School program, that’s certainly exciting.

This story was originally published December 2, 2015 at 1:15 AM with the headline "Matt Driscoll: Tacoma poised to launch a ‘Safe Routes to School’ program."