The Monterey County Health Department, Ecology Action and TAMC partnered with the City of Seaside, City of Marina and Monterey Peninsula Unified School District to develop the grant application for the Seaside & Marina Safe Walking & Biking to School: Complete Streets Plan. The grant was awarded in December 2017.
The plan builds on the goals of the Measure X Safe Routes to School Program, and a joint effort between TAMC, Monterey County Health Department, Office of Education and other stakeholders, to ensure disadvantaged populations across Monterey County have access to safe, healthy and affordable transportation options. Seaside and Marina house some of the lowest income populations in the County and have some of the highest rates of youth biking and walking injuries, and are thus high priority areas for safe routes to school planning. Other high priority areas that will receive safe routes to school outreach and education through the Measure X Safe Routes to School program are Salinas, South County, Castroville and North Monterey County.
The two-year planning process will identify barriers to safe access to all K-12 public schools in Seaside and Marina and recommend infrastructure and non-infrastructure improvements. The Transportation Agency is the Lead Agency, responsible for administering the grant, develop an online project page and forum for public input, participate in outreach and oversee project delivery in compliance with state, federal and local requirements.Ecology Action is under contract to manage the planning process, facilitate partner meetings and community engagement, collect and analyze data, and develop draft and final planning documents. Monterey County Health Department will assist Ecology Action in community engagement especially with Spanish-speakers and health-disadvantaged populations.The project kicked-off in May 2018 and is scheduled to conclude in June 2020.
Input from the community will help to identify barriers to walking and bicycling to school in Seaside and Marina. Members of the community will have opportunities to provide input throughout the planning process by participating in workshops, completing surveys and/or providing comments on the project website.
The first round of workshops will be held at the end of August, one in Seaside and one in Marina. Free dinner and childcare will be provided as will Spanish translation:
Seaside (Martin Luther King Kr. Elementary): Wednesday August 29; 6:30 - 8:00pm
Marina (Crumpton Elementary): Thursday August 30; 6:30 - 8:00pm