Safer Routes to School Action Plans

 

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Walking, rolling, and riding the bus to school benefit children’s physical and social health, reduce traffic congestion and improve safety in and around schools.

Enrollment in the Lake Washington School District has increased over the last 10 years, and the trend is projected to continue. Due to regional growth, more traffic is converging on schools at drop-off and pick-up times. This leads to poor traffic circulation, congestion, inadequate parking, and often unsafe conditions.

To address these issues, the City Council asked for the development of a “Safer Routes to School Action Plan” for each neighborhood in Kirkland as a part of the City’s 2019-2020 Work Program. The City Manager directed staff to work in partnership with the Lake Washington School District, law enforcement, design professionals, students, parents, and neighborhoods to identify key steps to make walking, rolling, and riding the bus to school safer and more convenient.

View Map of SRTS Recommended Projects

Important Information

The City Council adopted the Safer Routes to School Action Plans(PDF, 8MB) on September 1, 2020. 

See the September 1, 2020 Safer Routes to School Action Plans Memo, Plan, and Resolution(PDF, 5MB). See the interactive map showing which projects are highest priority.

The Safer Routes to School Action Plans include the following elements. 

  • Engagement. Engagement means listening to students, families, school administrators, and other community members throughout the decision-making process to ensure the public’s concerns and aspirations are consistently understood and considered.
  • Equity. Equity is about fair and equitable distribution of resources and ensuring safe, healthy, and fair outcomes for low-income students, students of color, and students with disabilities.
  • Education. In cooperation with the Lake Washington School District, the education element improves safe walking and rolling skills for all students and community members.
  • Encouragement. Encouragement strategies are about having fun and getting more students walking and rolling to and from school. Encouragement also embraces and promotes riding the bus and carpooling as simple, safe, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly options.
  • Enforcement. Enforcement activities increase the safety of students walking and rolling to school by targeting unsafe driving behavior. Such behavior includes speeding, failing to yield to pedestrians and bicyclists, illegal parking, and illegal turns in school areas.
  • Engineering. Engineering is the design and implementation of traffic control devices and physical improvements to making walking, rolling, and busing to school safer and more convenient and comfortable.
  • Evaluation. Evaluation includes collecting information and tracking data over time to measure the effectiveness of methods and practices in the Safer Routes to School Action Plans.
Project Recommendations

Voting on the projects related to pedestrian safety has closed.
Thank you for your participation. 630 individuals/families voted on the pedestrian safety related project recommendations for the Safer Routes to School Action Plans.

Bicyclist safety related project recommendations are being developed as part of the Active Transportation Plan update.

Voting results were combined with the City's technical prioritization criteria(PDF, 115KB) in July 2020, and the final project recommendations were first presented to the City Council at their meeting on August 4, 2020.

The prioritization criteria is based on the Transportation Master Plan guidelines.

 

How Project Recommendations Were Developed

Watch the presentation on April 21, 2020 updating City Council on progress with the Safer Routes to School Action Plans. View the staff report and attachments(PDF, 6MB) .

 

Capital Projects Recently Completed

Elementary School Walk Route Enhancements

  • SANDBURG: Northeast 132nd Street (north side), from 84th to 87th avenues northeast
  • MARK TWAIN: Northeast 104th Street (south side), from 132nd to 126th avenues northeast
  • MARK TWAIN: 126th Avenue Northeast (west side), from Northeast 90th to Northeast 94th streets
  • PETER KIRK: Northeast 95th Street (north side), from 116th to 112th avenues northeast
  • PETER KIRK: 111th Avenue Northeast (east side), from Northeast 100th to 104th streets

124th Avenue Northeast Improvements

  • MARK TWAIN: 124th Avenue Northeast (west side), Northeast 90th Street to approximately Northeast 113th street