Walking to school - a step closer to safety (news article)

Clemson walkers a step closer to safety
Pedestrian bridge will ease concerns on Berkeley Drive

By John C. Stevenson • Pickens County News • Published: December 14. 2010 2:00AM

Plans for a pedestrian bridge over busy U.S. 123 at Berkeley Drive in Clemson is one step closer to fruition.

The City Council has decided to hire Florence & Hutcheson Consulting Engineers for about $69,000 to design a pedestrian bridge that would resolve a decades-old safety concern.

The narrow, two-lane Berkeley Drive overpass is a concern because Clemson Elementary School is on Berkeley Drive, and the road connects the school to local neighborhoods.

“If I was one of the parents, I would not let my children walk across it,” Clemson Elementary principal Ken Weichel said. “This will open up several neighborhoods, and be the safe way for kids to get to school.”

Clemson administrator Rick Cotton said safety has been an issue at the overpass since the elementary school opened 20 years ago. The city has considered various options, including tearing down the existing bridge and constructing a new one at a cost of about $2 million, and connecting sidewalk to the bridge, restriping the bridge and adding a fence to separate pedestrians from vehicles, at a cost of about $80,000.

Cotton said the existing Berkeley Drive bridge is in otherwise good condition, and does not need to be replaced, while the plan to restripe and add sidewalk and a fence “does not improve safety.”

“You've got a school there that's going to be there for another 40 or 50 years, let's build a 40- or 50-year solution,” Cotton said. “Council's decided we need to find a way to get this done.”

Florence & Hutcheson will be tasked not only with designing a pedestrian bridge, but also with “bidding and construction management” for the project, which Cotton said could cost as much as $700,000.

He said by May, the city “will have a project that's designed and built and ready to bid.”

At the same time, Cotton said, the city will work to find the money needed to build the pedestrian bridge. A Transportation Enhancement Program grant through the state Department of Transportation is a possible source, he said.

Eunice Lehmacher, a Clemson Elementary parent who has long lobbied for improvements to the overpass, said the pedestrian bridge will have benefits for the community in addition to pedestrian safety.

“My philosophy is walking is better than driving — for kids, for the environment, for all kinds of reasons,” she said. “I have friends who run across that bridge or walk across that bridge and cars don't slow down for them. They say it's kind of scary for them — for adults.”

Oct 1st, 2010 - Fall Walk to School Day

We had a very successful walk to school day on Friday! More than 585 of us walked! Hurray for all of us! Come, see more pictures on Flickr!

Anderson Independent even wrote an article about how our school and other schools walk for safe routes to school! Read more!

Why walk to school?

There are sooooo many reasons-

• Walking and biking to school provide opportunities for children and families to reduce their carbon usage and contribute to the health of the environment.
  
• If a family chooses to walk to school (rather than drive a personal vehicle)
  they can reduce their carbon use by .164 metric tons annually.
  
• If half of the students at an average size elementary school choose to walk to school their impact could be a savings of over 39 tons of greenhouse gas emissions a year. This is the equivalent of the carbon-removing abilities of 1,000 trees.
  
• Leaving the car at home just two days a week will reduce greenhouse gas
  emissions by an average of 1,600 pounds per year.
  
• Private vehicle emissions contribute to air pollution and global climate
  change, both of which threaten human and environmental health.
  
• Passenger cars, trucks, motorcycles, and SUVs together account for 62 percent of transportation related greenhouse gas emissions. The transportation sector is responsible for one-third of all carbon dioxide emissions in the U.S. Air pollutants can be especially harmful to children because their respiratory systems are still developing.
  
• Air pollution has negative effects on lung development in children and can reduce lung function, increase respiratory infection, and aggravate asthma symptoms.
  
• Childhood asthma rates more than doubled from 1980 to the mid-1990s and they remain at historically high rates today. Presently, asthma is one of the most prevalent chronic childhood diseases and is a major cause of childhood disability. At least 14 million school days are missed annually due to asthma.
  
• Exposure to nature and time for free outdoor play can have multiple health benefits including stress reduction, relief ofADHD symptoms in children, and increased cognitive and motor functioning.
  

Berkeley Bridge on News Channel 4

WALK TO SCHOOL is making a difference!

Look at this news bit that aired yesterday on News Channel 4!http://www.wyff4.com/video/24946286/index.html

Plans are in the works to build a pedestrial bridge next to the existing bridge!!! Walking and biking is going to get much safer! I'm so excited!!!

Walk to School at CES - October 1st

Let's walk again!!!
Let's get healthy!
Let's help clean the air!
Let's create safe routes to our school!

Clemson Elementary will join the International Walk to School Event on Friday, October 1st. (To see more on International Walk to School Day see: http://www.walktoschool.org/)

We'll be getting together for a"walking schoolbus" again! Here's the map for the walking schoolbus, which shows you where the "walking schoolbus" has stops. You can "hop on" at any stop. See the green footprints for locations and the time for the arrival of the walkers.

On South side of school:
7:20 - departure from intersection of Berkeley and Issaquena
7:22 - departure from Camelot (E. Anderson park)
7:30 - departure from intersection of Berkeley and Rock Creek Rd.
7:35 - departure from intersection of Berkeley and Evergereen
Country Walk walkers walk on their nature path to the bridge area
7:42 - join up with folks from Clarendon
7:45 - cross the bridge (closed on both sides by Clemson police)

On North side of school :
7:30 - Berkeley Village
7:35 - Village Walk North entrance
7:40 - Village Walk South entrance
7:45 - Pleasant View Drive

Those coming from further:
feel free to park near the walking schoolbus stops and walk with your child to school and back to your car.

Please, make sure that there is a responsible adult accompanying each child on the way to school!

The way home is not part of the fun, so just use your usual method of transortation home.

Sprout's Summer 2010

Summer went by way too fast! Share with Sprout the green things you have seen or done for the environment this summer!

WALK TO SCHOOL - JUNE 4th, 2010

We have some pictures for you to see!
Here's our chance to WALK TO SCHOOL again!!! Hurray!!! We'll be fresh at school and we help our air stay clean!!! Get on your feet and join the walk!

We'll be getting together for a"walking schoolbus" again! We will be together so that we can enjoy the company - just as we would on schoolbuses. But we won't pollute our air, because this "walking schoolbus" moves by our feet!

Here's a map I made for you to see, where this "walking schoolbus" has stops. You can "hop on" at any stop. See the green footprints for locations and the time for the arrival of the walkers.

On South side of school:

7:20 - departure from intersection of Berkeley and Issaquena
7:22 - departure from Camelot (E. Anderson park)
7:30 - departure from intersection of Berkeley and Rock Creek Rd.
7:35 - departure from intersection of Berkeley and Evergereen
Country Walk walkers walk on their nature path to the bridge area
7:42 - join up with folks from Clarendon
7:45 - cross the bridge (closed on both sides by Clemson police)

On North side of school :
7:30 - Berkeley Village
7:35 - Village Walk North entrance
7:40 - Village Walk South entrance
7:45 - Pleasant View Drive

Those coming from further:
feel free to park near the walking schoolbus stops and walk with your child to school and back to your car.

Please, make sure that there is a responsible adult accomanying each child on the way to school!

The way home is not part of the fun, so just use your usual method of transortation home.