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Irish Independent
23-07-2025
- Politics
- Irish Independent
Wexford County Council agrees to meet public to discuss controversial safe routes to school schemes
In addition, the works will lead to the widening of footpaths, narrowing of roads, and tightening of junctions in the two villages. However, those living in The Ballagh and Kiltealy have voiced their discontent regarding the schemes with many accusing the organisation behind The Safe Routes to School (SRTS) initiative (An Taisce) of not engaging with the public prior to finalising its plans. In the Ballagh, a public meeting saw 64 per cent of those in attendance reject the proposed scheme in their village, while in Kiltealy there have been 92 submissions made by members of the public raising concerns about the layout of the scheme and how it will affect residents. With the council under increasing pressure to liaise with the public, director or roads Eamonn Hore has announced that two information evenings will be arranged in the villages between August 5-15. In a letter issued to all relevant stakeholders, Mr Hore said that 'following these meetings a decision will be made to proceed with the Safe Routes to School plans or not to proceed with the plans. Wexford County Council would like to see all representatives of the village who have an interest in Safe Routes to Schools, including parents, residents and business owners attend at these meetings. We all aim to keep the children safe.' Mr Hore also drew attention to the fact that the delivery plan and audits for the schemes were presented to each school's board of management on February 19 (Ballaghkeene) and March 4 (Kiltealy) and that the latter also included a walkability audit carried out in the village with students and the Green Schools Travel Officer. The decision to meet with the public comes after local councillors chose to go 'in committee' to discuss the schemes at two district meetings last week. On Tuesday morning last, at the July meeting of Enniscorthy Municipal District (EMD), cathaoirleach Councillor Barbara Anne Murphy proposed that the media be asked to leave so that councillors could discuss the Kiltealy safe routes scheme privately. Cllr Jackser Owens objected to this proposal and the matter was put to a vote with Cllrs Aidan Browne, Pat Kehoe, and Trish Byrne voting to go in committee, and Cllr Owens, and John O'Rourke voting to hold the discussion with members of the media present. As a result the subsequent discussion was held privately. Later that day, at the Gorey Kilmuckridge Municipal District (GKMD) councillors held a private meeting with members of the community from The Ballagh prior to their public meeting. The media was not invited to attend the private meeting. However, at the county council meeting a day prior, some discussion on the schemes took place under the full glare of the assembled press. ADVERTISEMENT Councillor Paddy Kavanagh was the first to raise the topic, contending that neither he, nor the people he represents, had been consulted regarding the Ballaghkeene scheme. 'I have no objection to the SRTS, it's a fabulous initiative, it's putting in ramps and safety features into villages where it's long overdue,' he said. 'This is something which would have constantly been raised about The Ballagh in the past. But if An Taisce is coming to a village to alter that village permanently, it should consult with those living locally. 'Its engineers met with the school, the principal, the parish priest, the parents association, and the board of management; they also consulted with some of the businesses which were directly affected, and those people were of the opinion that these engineers were going to come back to them. But they never came back. "On the day we voted on this at our last district meeting in Gorey, there wasn't even a map for the elected representatives to consult. It would have been so much easier for those engineers if they'd had a public meeting with the people of the parish who are going to be affected by these works for years and years to come. 'I am not for or against this, but I would like to see some safety measures going in for the schoolchildren and to slow the traffic going through the village. But the local people have to have their say.' Cllr Barbara Anne Murphy meanwhile, believed a public information event was the only way to counteract a lot of what she described as 'misinformation and disinformation' which had been circulated in Kiltealy. 'People need to know what's actually proposed and what the options are and the difference it would make to the village,' she said. 'There's an organised 'no' campaign in Kiltealy which is difficult to overcome. People feel intimidated by it.' While events later in the week would suggest Mr Hore agreed that there was a need for a public information event, he remained of the opinion that the relevant bodies had received due warning of the proposed plans. 'On April 9 an email was sent to the councillors with all the relevant documentation, including every single plan, the drawings, all the proposed works, and the locations of the pedestrian crossings,' he said. 'On June 16 there was a meeting with the post office, the local shop, and the landowners, and on June 17 there was a report made to the GKMD with the active travel team in attendance.' Insisting he had not received any detailed maps in April, Cllr Kavanagh felt that an effort had been to made to slip the scheme by unnoticed. 'Any maps I have seen since (at the local meetings) were all on A4 sheets, something major like this should be put on the wall in a hall, and be big enough for people to see it properly,' he said. 'It seems like An Taisce was trying to keep the plans closely under wraps and have it on view for a minute amount of time. That's a sad indictment of the way the councillors have been used.'
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Virginia Safe Routes to School programs see future funding in jeopardy
Linwood Holton Elementary School students experience the joy of walking and biking to school on protected streets during Bike to School Day May 7. (Photo by Chip Jackson/Richmond Public Schools) A state grant program called Safe Routes to Schools, which funds crossing guard training, teaches students how to safely ride a bike and sponsors walk and bike to school days, has gone through a metamorphosis that could put the brakes on those initiatives. Safe Routes to Schools was created in 2005 under the federal Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act but got an influx of funds from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which was passed in 2021. Safe Routes to School funds Fit4Kids, an initiative promoting a healthy lifestyle through nutrition and movement implemented in Central Virginia school districts including in the cities of Richmond, Hopewell and Petersburg, and Chesterfield and Henrico Counties. 'Fit4Kids has been the Safe Routes to School program for the city of Richmond for about 10 years,' said Mary Dunne Stewart, chief executive officer of Greater Richmond Fit4Kids. Stewart said in that time, they were able to grow it from a small pilot program, to a district-wide one that trains more than 100 crossing guards and teaches 750 students annually in their Learn to Bike program. In Harrisonburg, project coordinator Andrea Troyer said though their program has been 'on and off' for 10 years, and was originally led by a part-time coordinator. But because of a SRTS grant, they were able to hire her as a full-time coordinator back in November. Since then, she's been trying to restart the bike program. 'One of the big things that's been a success, is the education around students in their bike units,' she said. I was coming from a school that had started up their bike unit for the first time in six years. And so it's really exciting to kind of see the excitement from teachers, administrators, students, (and) from parents.' A major change to how program facilitators request funding and use it has left them unsure if they'll be able to grow their outreach efforts in the fiscal years of 2027-28. Stewart said in the beginning, the Fit4Kids program was funded in a certain way. 'It used to be funded by a specific line item at VDOT that was for Safe Routes to School with federal funding. And that funding went away about three years ago,' Stewart said. According to Jessica Cowardin, assistant director of communications for the Virginia Department of Transportation, when federal funding for the SRTS program was eliminated, the activities under the program became eligible under the Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP). 'Because dedicated SRTS funding has not been federally reestablished, all SRTS projects must be administered in accordance with the federal TAP guidance,' Cowardin said in an email to Virginia Mercury. Stewart thought the change was 'great,' and said the funding stream still allowed localities to apply for various bike, pedestrian and infrastructure projects. But the issue is in the numbers. Normally when requesting funds, programs such as Fit4Kids work in conjunction with city departments. In Richmond, for example, it's the Department of Public Works. In turn, DPW piggybacks Fit4Kids requests into their bigger pile of funding requests for infrastructure projects. In the past, localities could request funding for up to 11 projects. But now, that number has dwindled to five. This means projects under TAP have to compete with the larger, more expensive infrastructure projects cities need money for. The purpose of the change, some local leaders said, remains unclear. 'We're trying to figure out, why is this happening? Is this a big picture strategy decision from the governor's office or from the Secretary of Transportation? Or is this kind of a mid-level decision?' asked Stewart. 'The only response we've gotten is that they're trying to incentivize new programs.' Cowardin of VDOT said they have to administer TAP funding in accordance with federal and state code and in line with policies established by Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB), which were last updated in summer of 2023. She said the change in maximum TAP applications to five per cycle went into effect this year. This drastic application reduction spurred major concern for Justine Blincoe, policy director of Richmond's Fit4Kids. She said her organization has had a great relationship with DPW over years but the cap on grant applications they can submit threatens it. 'Because the city of Richmond is kind of earmarking one of the project submissions for us each year, if they were limited to doing five project submissions versus two times that amount, it would really limit their opportunity to be able to apply for other higher cost projects,' she said. Blincoe said if you compare the cost of a big paving project to how much money Safe Routes to School needs to operate, for example, it's possible the youth biking programs will be left out. 'It just really kind of puts into perspective that they could be losing out on opportunities to apply for something that's higher cost. And it really kind of disincentivizes localities to partner with a Safe Routes to School program to be able to do this,' Blincoe said. Because of the uncertainty of being left out of funding, Stewart met with representatives from Richmond Public Schools on May 13. 'I'm meeting with RPS to ask them to be the applicant instead of DPW,' she said to Virginia Mercury in an email ahead of the discussion. 'I feel very uneasy asking DPW to forgo a much more expensive project for a VERY low reimbursement rate for SRTS.' The day after that meeting, Stewart said RPS agreed to be the lead applicant in future applications. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
