On August 5, as the sun was rising, Safe Routes to School Committee members were busy painting the curb on Alaska Avenue in front of Sacramento Elementary school. Painters included City staff, a DPS officer, Otero PATH staff, and Otero Walkability Advocacy Group board members. The Safe Routes to School program is funded through the Department of Transportation. The City is the fiscal agent for this current planning grant, and Sacramento Elementary is the partner school. The City will be able to apply for more funding to improve infrastructure in that area once the Action Plan phase is completed.
The curbs are now painted: green for drop off / pick up only, which changes the old pattern that allowed prolonged parking; red for a fire zone which means no parking at any time; blue for a handicapped student drop off/ pick up area only; and yellow at the crosswalk areas. Yellow also indicates no parking and caution for pedestrians. This new pattern is intended to improve traffic flow and get rid of any street parking in front of Sacramento school, which can cause a dangerous situation during the hgh traffic of school start and end times.
Committee members will work with Sacramento school faculty to implement an education campaign about the new traffic flow.
