Protecting walkers, bikers is a priority

Officials in Lorain County are correctly exploring ways to keep walkers and bicyclists safe on roads.

Lorain County Public Health recently scored a $69,976 grant from the Road to Zero Coalition, managed by the National Safety Council.

The grant was announced during the April 13 meeting of the Lorain Active Transportation Plan group.

Active transportation is human-powered travel — walking, biking, skating and generally getting around the community without a car.

And because of the grant, the efforts have begun paying off as local health, school and city officials look for ways to make Lorain streets safer for walkers and cyclists.

There are some in the community who don’t own a car, and probably don’t want one.

For those who want to walk or ride a bike or skate, they should be able to do so in a safe environment.

The National Safety Council and other federal agencies have joined to raise public safety awareness.

They also want to eliminate traffic deaths by 2050. And they realized safer roads must be part of the solution.

Nationally, traffic fatalities declined for a decade, but spiked 14 percent from 201416. That was the largest twoyear increase in more than 50 years, according to the National Safety Council.

There have been local crashes as well. In the last five years, Lorain had 75 crashes involving a cyclist or walker. Among those, two were deadly and 19 were considered very serious. One death is too many. Lorain County Public Health was one of eight winners from 81 applicants seeking money to find innovative approaches to making roads safer. It also will work to improve safety for bicyclists and pedestrians.

For more than a year, Lorain County Public Health has led a local coalition to create an Active Transportation Plan for Lorain.

The plan will recommend road, sidewalk, traffic flow and other improvements over the next five years to improve safety for walkers and bicycle riders, especially students.

Lorain County Health Commissioner David Covell said the group is excited that their ideas for continued improvement to create safer roads were selected.

Covell said traveling by foot or bike also increases people’s physical activity levels, which is critical to prevent and manage many chronic diseases including heart disease, diabetes, cancer and arthritis.

Lorain Mayor Chase Ritenauer is jubilant of the process and says it is great to see how work on bicycle and pedestrian safety started small with an opportunity through local funding.

Ritenauer acknowledged the city now is receiving recognition on a national level for the collective commitment to innovation with partners to improve the health and safety of residents.

With the plan in place, the Road to Zero Grant will help pay for formation of a Lorain Active Transportation Collaborative to guide and pay for future road safety projects.

Sara Tillie, health education specialist for Lorain County Public Health, has reviewed a number of policy recommendations in the Active Transportation Plan.

Tillie said the policy recommendations deal with ways to improve safety through help of local government, parents and schools.

Also, local health workers said the money could be a prelude to an announcement — which is pending — by ODOT awarding a grant to Lorain through the Safe Routes to School program.

For years, schools have worked with the Safe Routes to School program.

The city legislation included a list of 91 projects that could improve conditions for walkers and cyclists heading to Lorain Schools or anywhere around the city.

According to the list presented to City Council in January, the projects would create “community walking routes” or “school walking routes” along streets at various Lorain locations.

Veronica Newsome, engineer in Lorain’s City Engineering Department, has said examples of improvements could include curb ramps that make it easier to push strollers or wheelchairs or ride bikes without having to get up a six-inch high curb.

Other work could include signage for street crosswalks, bike lane improvements and adding sidewalks to areas of the city without them.

Newsome said it’s unclear exactly how much all the projects would cost.

In January, City Council authorized staff to seek up to $500,000 in grants to pay for the projects.

If ODOT awards a grant to Lorain, it likely would be for improvements in fiscal year 2022, meaning the money could pay for work starting October 2021.

Whatever it takes to get the project started and completed must be done for the safety of walkers and cyclists on Lorain County roads.