Silent Sports Group Pushes for Safe Routes to School

Members of Door County Silent Sports Alliance (DCSSA) have partnered with city officials in an effort to establish a Safe Routes to School (SRTS) program for the city of Sturgeon Bay. Both Leif Hagman and Paul Anschutz have been involved from the beginning of the process, offering up their expertise, time and talent in the design of the routes.

The SRTS program got off the ground in Sturgeon Bay in October of last year with the help of Tom Olsen. SRTS is designed to offer mainly safe, but also practical routes, for school age children across the country. The program applies to various means of transportation, such as biking and hiking.

Jessica Wineberg, the SRTS program coordinator, noted, “Sturgeon Bay is fortunate to be able to focus almost solely on traffic issues, rather than high crime areas and safety from criminals, such as is the case in Milwaukee.”

Throughout the process, DCSSA’s Anschutz and Hagman have also been actively working with the Sturgeon Bay Parks and Recreation Department. Roads marked SRTS-worthy are being implemented into a larger radius city outskirts plan, combining outlying roads and SRTS areas.

The research and development element of the SRTS program is nearly finished. A final presentation, the fourth made by Sarah Gaskell, a community planner with Schriber/Anderson Inc. from Madison, will be held July 22. Gaskell’s firm was contracted by the state to work with the SRTS program.

“We are privileged to be able to work with someone of her level of expertise,” Anschutz remarked. “We all stand to gain a wealth of information from an expert like this.”

Like other civic programs, the SRTS effort in Sturgeon Bay has had to vie for a portion of the limited funds available for the year. According to Anschutz, a decision about funding SRTS should be made by mid-August.

For more information on the Door County Silent Sports visit http://www.doorcountysilentsports.org.