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P.O. Box 600
Trenton, NJ
Contact: Erin Phalon
609-530-4280
RELEASE: September 13, 2007
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NJDOT awards $250,000 Safe
Routes to School grant to Roselle
(Trenton) – Commissioner Kris Kolluri today joined Senator Ray Lesniak (D-20), Assemblymen Joseph Cryan and Neil Cohen and
Mayor Garrett Smith to announce that the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) will award Roselle Borough a $250,000 Safe Routes to School
grant to promote pedestrian safety in the vicinity of Harrison Elementary School and Leonard V. Moore Middle School.
"By providing kids with a safe way to walk and ride their bikes to school we're helping to make exercise a daily habit and prevent childhood obesity,"
Governor Corzine said. "Safe Routes to School is an important part of my administration's five-year pedestrian safety program and I'm proud that it has
come to Roselle."
"Providing safe routes for our children to get to and from school is a critical component of Governor Corzine's pedestrian safety initiative, said Kolluri. "I applaud Roselle Borough officials for their efforts to improve pedestrian safety through their participation in the Safe Routes to Schools program."
The Safe Routes to School grant will enable Roselle to replace sidewalks, prune trees and install crosswalks, stop markings and twelve solar powered
driver feedback signs. In addition, the grant will fund a pedestrian safety education curriculum, a bike rodeo and a public awareness campaign.
"We need to do more to encourage kids to walk to school. It provides them with daily exercise and helps to reduce congestion in our communities," explained Senator Lesniak. "The key is to make sure that all safety concerns are addressed, so that parents feel secure in letting their children make the trip."
NJDOT's 2007 Safe Routes to School initiative will provide grants ranging from $7,500 to $337,000 for local projects designed to encourage children to
walk and bike to school, including the creation of safer walkways, bikeways and street crossings near schools.
New Jersey's Safe Routes to School Program assists communities in developing and implementing projects that encourage walking and bicycling to school
while enhancing the safety of these trips. The program increases pedestrian safety awareness among motorists and schoolchildren. Safe Routes to School
also improves environmental health and quality of life by reducing traffic jams and air pollution. In addition, Safe Routes to School improves
pediatric health by providing regular physical activity.
Governor Jon S. Corzine last year created a five-year, $74 million initiative to improve pedestrian safety throughout New Jersey by encouraging
motorists to share the road with pedestrians through engineering, education and enforcement. The initiative includes $15 million over five years for
the Safe Routes to Schools program.
The NJDOT Safe Routes to School program is part of a national program conducted in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Through the 2005 passage
of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU), Congress designated a total of $612 million
toward developing the National Safe Routes to School Program.
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