Schools

City Offcials Turn Out to Celebrate the 'Safe Routes to School' Program

As part of an ongoing program to increase the safety of Calabasas students, the City of Calabasas, in partnership with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and the Las Virgenes Unified School District, held a ribbon cutting

 

About a dozen members of the community representing the City of Calabasas, the Las Virgenes Unified School District and the Sheriff's Department attended a ribbon cutting ceremony Monday morning for the "Safe Routes to School" program.

“[The] program is a great opportunity for the city to work on ensuring the safety of our children while educating parents and drivers to be more aware and cautious of their driving behaviors,” said Robert Yalda, Director of Public Works for the City of Calabasas.

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Through a partnership with the district and the sheriff's department, the City worked to identify key areas that required attention to help ensure student safety, including A.E. Wright Middle School and the Mulholland Highway School Corridor.

This corridor includes Calabasas High School, Chaparral Elementary, and A.C. Stelle Middle School.

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The ceremony marked the completion of the major projects, said Bob Burris, a spokesman for the city. 

During this period, which began in 2011, the project improved crosswalks at key locations, including the installation of bulbouts (which narrow the traffic lanes and shorten the portion of the crosswalk where pedestrians are exposed to traffic), flashing beacons, improved and consistent signage and in-road flashers, according to Burris.  

"Nine existing crosswalks were repainted with extra-reflective paint," he said. "ADA ramps were built at fifty-four curbs along the routes identified on the maps. 'School Zone' pavement markings and advanced crosswalk signage have also been installed at the entrances to school zones and preceding all school crosswalks."

Officials in attendance included Calabasas City Councilmembers David Shapiro, Lucy Martin, Schools Superintendent Dan Stepenosky as well as representatives from LACSD and LVUSD.

Funding for the projects comes from a Federal Safe Routes to School Grant, and will include  crosswalks at key locations, flashing beacons, improved and consistent signage, in-road flashers, and other improvements.


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