Two years ago, when Wauwatosa parent Sarah Lerand launched an effort to make getting to and from McKinley Elementary School safer, she probably didn't dare dream how far and how fast the program would grow.

Or maybe she did. Lerand always envisioned safety success at McKinley as a model for the rest of the city's schools, and that just what it is happening.

On Monday, Gov. Scott Walker announced grants totaling $3,388,573 to assist  Wisconsin communities with Safe Routes to School projects in 2013.

Of 17 grants awarded in just 15 communities, Wauwatosa's program won two, and stands to receive probably more than $200,000.

The governor's office did not release a breakdown of the grant awards by amount – and neither, as of midday Tuesday, had the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, which actually administers the grants.

Ald. Jeff Roznowski, who worked with Lerand and other parents, school administrators, police and city staff to prepare the grant applications, did not even know that the winning communities had been announced until he got a congratulatory call Monday evening from Laura Wainscott, community liaison with the Wauwatosa Public Schools, who had seen the press release.

Roznowski is listed as the primary contact person on the applications.

"The announcements have been delayed since August," Roznowski said, "so I've been looking for it since then, and calling from time to time. But I haven't gotten the specific call from the DOT."

Nevertheless, Roznowski is confident that Wauwatosa's two requests were likely to have been fully funded.

A grant for planning, a grant for 'stuff'

"There are two categories of grants," he said. "One is called the 'planning grant,' and you don't ask for a particular amount – the grant provides for professional resources to assist with planning at the level they determine you need.

"The other, and larger, is the 'infrastructure/non-infrastructure grant,' and it's for – stuff, stuff you can see and touch, like signs and such – and for education programs and marketing."

The federally funded reimbursement program encourages children in grades K-8 to walk or bike to school, when safe and practical.

"In the planning grant," Roznowski said, "one of the main things we identified is that when our students leave McKinley for Whitman (Middle School) – when they get there, how do we do that? We have a river, a railroad and a very, very busy street (Mayfair Road) to get across.

"So we're trying to bridge that transition, and we're working with Longfellow (Middle School) as well."

McKinley's infrastructure grant request was very specific in needs and costs, and broke out to a total of $203,000.

"Some of it is McKinley-centric, but it also extends the program, and especially toward Longfellow," Roznowski said.

High-tech solutions to inattentive driving

Among the "stuff" it will buy, Roznowski said, are a number of "remote rapid-flashing beacon signs" that flash very visibly at the push of a crossing button.

"A set of them is one on each side of a crosswalk," he said, "and we asked for a set for Swan and Meinecke, one for Swan and Clarke – and one for Wright and Wauwatosa, which is north of Longfellow where we had a student injured by a car. So we're helping out in that area of need, and then the set at Swan and Clarke will also benefit the Christ King community."

The remote flasher signs cost from $9,000 to $10,000 a set, Roznowski said.

He noted that McKinley will also benefit from a third set of the signs already budgeted for the rebuilt intersection of North 90th Street and West North Avenue as part of the Meinecke Avenue Sewer Project.

Among other equipment purchases are three sets of speed monitoring signs, which will go up with one in each direction on Swan at North, another set farther east on North Avenue, probably at 89th Street – and again, one on Wauwatosa Avenue, likely near Clarke.

Those signs cost $8,000 to $9,000, Roznowski said.

The project will also fund safety kits for every crossing guard in the city that would include traffic cones and LED lights, among other things.

"That extends the good work from McKinley to every school in the district," Roznowski said.

More bike racks at Whitman and Longfellow are budgeted, as are 250 bike helmets – "that's a helmet for every kid at McKinley," Roznowski said.

There are also education and marketing program monies earmarked, for a local Safe Routes website, T-shirts, umbrellas – and Roznowski's personal favorite item, a costumed mascot.

"There's even some money budgeted for overtime for police for additional traffic enforcement," Roznowski said.

"It's exciting, because it validates this grassroots effort that Sarah started two years ago with a petition to the city to look into better school safety," he said. "It continues to reinforce safety as a priority and as part of an ongoing discussion.

"It shows that Wauwatosa cares about safety."

A statewide effort

Other 2013 projects around the state include multi-use trails, bike racks, traffic calming, sidewalk improvements, bike and pedestrian education, and enforcement activities. Of the 17 projects, five are for planning purposes, while 12 are for infrastructure improvements to support existing Safe Routes to School programs.

Since 2007, WisDOT has distributed approximately $13 million in federal funds for projects that make biking and walking to school a safer and more appealing transportation alternative. Additional information about WisDOT’s Safe Routes to School program is online at: www.dot.wisconsin.gov/localgov/aid/saferoutes.htm.

Below are the school districts and programs named for grant awards.

List of 2013 Safe Routes to School projects and contact information

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View this document on the web at www.dot.wisconsin.gov/news/ and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/WisDOT.