audubon test by Candace Eudaley

Audubon Elementary School School Location: 605 Lincoln Avenue Dubuque, Iowa 52001-3411

Present Conditions Number of students: 284 Bus Service: • Public Transit – Keyline Transit Red Line • School District Bus Service

Parent Surveys

Student surveys were administered to parents of children attending grades K-5 at Audubon Elementary School, during the month of November in 2008. Parents were asked to fill out the survey form about their child’s transportation to school. The survey asked parents about the safety of their child’s route to school and what they viewed as impediments to walking or biking to school. Additionally, parents of students who walked or biked to school were asked to draw their route to school on school area maps (see page 4).

Travel Mode to School 91 parents at Audubon Elementary School responded to the survey, and this constitutes 32% of the student body. Parents responding to the survey stated that their child travels to school most often by walking (45.65%) or by family vehicle (38.04%).

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Travel Time to School 86.96% of parents responding to the survey stated that their child spends less than 10 minutes traveling to school.

Travel Distance to School 75% of parents responding to the survey stated that their child travels less than 1/2 mile to school.

Grade Level Allowed to Walk/Bike to School Parents responding to the survey viewed 4th grade as an appropriate, allowable age for a child to walk or bike to school. A very small percentage, 1.43% , stated that they would never allow their child to walk or bike to school.

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Environmental Factors Impacting Walking/Biking The most common changes that would encourage more students to walk or bike to school included traffic amount, weather, traffic speed and availability of crossing guards. The major issues brought up by parents were unsafe intersections and safety on the routes to school.

Incentives/Programs The top parent suggestions for increasing walking and biking were: 1. Safety Education 2. Adult Supervision The streets cited most often by parents as being unsafe included: 1. Windsor Ave and 22nd St. 2. Rhomberg Ave and Elm St. 3. 21st St. and Elm St. 4. Jackson St and 24th St 5. All intersections crossing 22nd St

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Mapping Student Routes and Crash Data Those students who walked or biked to school were asked to draw their routes on a provided map. These routes were compiled into Geographical Information Systems (GIS) format. The more heavily used routes began to overlap and become thicker displaying the primary routes used to access schools. This map also contains 2006 crash data from the Iowa Department of Transportation. E

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School Administrator Input Staff met with Audubon School administrators to discuss problems impacting children who walk or bike to school. During these meetings, both structural and educational solutions were discussed. The following table contains the problems and solutions that were listed by Audubon administrators. Problem 1 J-walking on 22nd St, Lincoln, Rhomberg, Windsor

Solution • Traffic signals with quick response during school arrival and dismissal times at Rhomberg/Johnson and Lincoln/Windsor Crosswalk

2 No ability to staff patrols at 22nd and Windsor or at Johnson and Rhomberg

• Funding sources to staff at unsupervised corners

3 Motor vehicles - lack of awareness and knowledge of • Continue to inform/educate students and parents how to deal with bicycles and pedestrians. of safe routes and appropriate safe behaviors traveling to/from school Bicyclists and Pedestrian - lack of awareness and knowledge of how to navigate traffic

4 Speeding traffic on 22nd, Windsor, and Rhomberg

• Enforcement of existing regulations

5 Parking/congestion on Providence St.

• Designated streets near the school as “no parking” or “no parking during school”

6 Potential unseen issues regarding Bee Branch Project.

• Ongoing- continue dialogue with city officials regarding impact of Bee Branch Project on traffic flow and patterns

7 “Blind” corners at Lincoln and Windsor due to houses with large shrubs at corner

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Mapping Administration Input Based on the input received by Audubonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s administration, the following map was created to provide a visual representation of problem areas and proposed solutions. Each marker on the map corresponds to an issue in the table on page 5.

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The map can be accessed electronically by going to: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&m sid=113063551615886447561.00046b4b49455c0fe3ae8&ll=42.515534,-90.665445&spn=0.003183,0.004828&z=18

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Neighborhood Association Input

Staff met with the Point and Washington Neighborhoods Associations to discuss problems impacting children who walk or bike to school. During these meetings, both structural and educational solutions were discussed. The following tables contain the problems and solutions that were listed by the Point and Washington Neighborhood Association members.

Point Neighborhood Association 1 2 3

4 5 6 7

Problem Unsafe Intersection: Stafford and Lincoln

Solution • Provide crossing guards at school arrival and dismissal times Unsafe Intersection: Lincoln and Humboldt • Release students at staggered times • Provide crossing guards at arrival and dismissal times - use older students as guards Motor vehicles - lack of awareness and knowledge of • Continue to inform/educate students and parents of how to deal with bicycles and pedestrians. safe routes and appropriate safe behaviors traveling to/from school Bicyclists and Pedestrian - lack of awareness and knowledge of how to navigate traffic Unsafe intersection: Windsor and Lincoln Vehicles exceeding speed limit on Rhomberg •Enforce speed limit and add traffic calming devices Unsafe intersection: Elm and 19th St •Addition of painted crosswalk Unsafe crossing area: Garfield St • Posting of school crossing sign

Washington Neighborhood Association Problem

Solution

Unsafe intersection: Washington and 20th St

• Add flashing school crossing lights during school arrival and dismissal times • Addition of painted crosswalk

Unsafe Intersection: Windsor and Rhomberg

• Add flashing school crossing lights during school arrival and dismissal times • Addition of painted crosswalk 10 Unsafe crossing area: 600 and 700 block of Rhomberg • Add flashing school crossing lights during school arrival and dismissal times • Addition of painted crosswalk 11 Unsafe intersection: Rhomberg and Kniest • Add flashing school crossing lights during school arrival and dismissal times • Addition of painted crosswalk 12 Motor vehicles - lack of awareness and knowledge of • Continue to inform/educate students and parents of how to deal with bicycles and pedestrians safe routes and appropriate safe behaviors traveling Bicyclists and Pedestrian - lack of awareness and to/from school knowledge of how to navigate traffic 13 Safety •Neighborhood safety team to monitor and reinforce • No cell phones around schools while driving 14 General • Washington Neighborhood plan incorporated into SRTS Plan including - traffic calming, speed bumps, and crosswalks • Evaluate opportunities to fund programs or facilities using CDBG or Neighborhood funds

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Mapping Neighborhood Association Input Based on the input received by the Point and Washington Neighborhoods Associations, the following map was created to provide a visual representation of problem areas and proposed solutions. Each marker on the map corresponds to an issue in the tables on page 7.

2 1 4 3

12 9 13 10 5 7 11

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The map can be accessed electronically by going to: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0& msid=113063551615886447561.00046c049e8a1d0edacd7&ll=42.521803,-90.658252&spn=0.003092,0.004828&z=18 and http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=113063551615886447561.00046c13b23040fc e4e0d&z=16

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