Current projects

safe routes to schools

Starkville’s “Safe Routes to School” grant application was awarded $281,476 in funding by the Mississippi Department of Transportation in July 2007. The grant will be used to construct or improve walking and cycling routes from neighborhoods to Ward-Stewart, Henderson and Armstrong schools.. View a map of the funded Safe Routes to Schools route in Starkville. Read the press release about the award.

The 1st Citywide Walk to School Day was a success! Read an article about this Safe Routes to School event. See photos from Walk to School Day.

Read the Safe Routes to Schools Case Studies from Around the Country (Starkville is featured on page 81)

Safe Routes to Schools is an international movement that has recently come to the forefront nationwide. In response to increasing childhood obesity levels (at 40%, Mississippi’s children rank first in the nation) as well as environmental concerns, the federal government has made funding available to all 50 states for annual grants to communities to establish “Safe Routes to Schools.” Communities commonly employ such infrastructure improvements as bike paths, sidewalks, traffic calming devices, signals and flashers, and road markings when laying out these routes. The grants will also fund public education and encourage programs such as bike and pedestrian safety, school crossing guards, safety patrol programs, and in-class activities. The grant dollars will come from the federal SAFETEA-LU Transportation Enhancement fund, via the Mississippi Department of Transportation over the 5-year course of the grant program.

These grants target children in grades 4 through 8. In Starkville, those students attend Ward-Stewart Elementary School, Henderson Intermediate School, and Armstrong Middle School. Infrastructure improvements must be located within two miles of a target school.

whitfield st./greensboro st. bike lane

At the request of neighbors in the area, Starkville in Motion is working with the City of Starkville to investigate the potential for a bike lane along Whitfield and Greensboro Streets.