Hoover Safe Routes Program Recognized by State

The Hoover School safe routes project was designated a Bronze Level Safe Routes to School project by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation in their Safe Routes to School Awards ceremony on June 8. This designation was received following ongoing efforts during the 2019-2020 school year to collaborate with the Commonwealth’s Safe Routes to School program to perform a parent survey, along with arrival and dismissal observations. This work led to a series of recommendations that the City is now reviewing to determine actions it can take that will improve the ability for students to walk and bike to school in this neighborhood. This program is a parallel effort with the City’s ongoing work to seek grant funding to add sidewalks in the Hoover School neighborhood.

“This recognition shows the power of dedicated residents working together,” said Mayor Paul Brodeur. “The families and staff of the Hoover School, our Department of Public Works, our Mass in Motion coordinator, Kara Showers, and the Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Committee are all collaborating to make it easier and safer for Hoover students to walk or ride their bicycles or scooters to school. This work will result in significant improvements to our city, and I want to thank all who are part of making it happen.”

Official recognition of Melrose’s partnership with the Safe Routes to School program makes the city eligible for a number of grants, including the Signs and Lines program, which pays for low-cost measures to improve pedestrian safety, and the SRTS Infrastructure grants program. The award is unusual for a school in the first year of the program.

“For a first-year programmed school, this is a great accomplishment,” said Judy Crocker, the Safe Routes to School coordinator at the DOT. “Our program assigns points for school programming/participation throughout the school year and I nominated the Hoover for its can-do attitude with help from the volunteer Ped/Bike Committee, Melrose Department of Public Works, Hoover parents, and Hoover school staff. Hopefully, the school will be at a Gold level in record time!”

“The Melrose Pedestrian and Bicyclist Committee congratulates the Hoover School for its recognition by MassDOT's Safe Routes to School Program,” said Jonah Chiarenza, chair of the Ped/Bike Committee. “As prioritized in our forthcoming three-year Plan, the Committee strongly supports improvements for safe, non-motorized access to Melrose Public Schools. We look forward to continued collaboration with the City of Melrose, and our State and local partners, in building a complete network of safe, accessible routes to all of our schools, for people who want to travel on foot, by bike, or via other non-motorized modes.”