[1]

Maquoketa M

iddle and High School

Maquoketa, Iow

a

Safe Routes to Sch

ool

[1]

Student SurveysStudent surveys were administered to 9th through 12th graders, at Maquoketa Middle and High School, during the month of November in 2009. During class, students were asked to fi ll out the survey form about their transportation to school. The survey asked students about the safety of their route to school and what they viewed as impediments to walking or biking to school.

464 students responded to the survey, and this constitutes 75% of the student body.

Students responding to the survey travel to school by a family vehicle (70.91%) or by a school bus (10.56%).

Travel Mode to School

Maquoketa Middle School School Location:600 Washington StreetMaquoketa, Iowa 52060

Present Conditions

Number of students: 620

29.09%

33.19%

23.28%

9.91%

3.45%

1.08%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%

No response

Don't know

More than 20 min

11-20 min

5-10 min

Less than 5 min

62.28% of students responding to the survey stated that they spend less than 10 minutes traveling to school.

Travel Time to School

8.19%

0.43%

0.22%

10.56%

70.91%

7.97%

1.29%

0.43%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

No response

Other

Carpool

Family Vehicle

School Bus

Transit

Bike

Walk

[2]

Incentives/Programs

Travel Distance to School

The top student suggestions for increasing walking and biking were:1. Reward/gift2. Recreational activities3. Shorter distance 4. Money

The streets and intersections cited most often by students as being unsafe included:1. Highway 64 2. Summit Street and Main Street3. South 4th Street4. Platt Street 5. Vermont Street 6. Olive Street7. 233rd Avenue 8. South 5th Street

22.63% of students responding to the survey travel less than 1/2 mile to school, while 42.24% travel 2 miles or more to attend school.

42.24%

10.56%

16.59%

7.76%

14.87%

7.11%

0.86%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

No response

Don't know

Less than 1/4 mile

1/4 mile up to 1/2 mile

1/2 mile up to 1 mile

1 mile up to 2 miles

More than 2 miles

0.00%

5.83%

5.83%

45.00%

3.33%

1.67%

5.83%

0.00%

20.00%

17.50%

0.00%

6.67%

5.00%

2.50%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

Save the environment

Extra credit

Contest or cause

Safety education

Reward/gift

Money

Biking/walking club

Nicer weather

physical fitness

Recreational activities

Shorter distance

Walking groups

Biking/walking paths

Stop lights

0.00%10.00%20.00%30.00%40.00%50.00%60.00%70.00%80.00%90.00%100.00%

yes

no

The most common changes that would encourage more students to walk or bike to school included more crossing guards, a reduced traffi c speed, less violence, and making driving less convenient. The major issues brought up by students were weather, distance, and school activities.

Environmental Factors Impacting Walking/Biking

[3]

School Administrator Input

Staff met with Maquoketa High School administrators and local offi cials 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 suggested at the meeting.

Problem SolutionMHS1 Unsafe intersection at W Summit St and S Vermont St Crosswalk

MHS2 Unsafe intersection at W Summit St and S Vermont St Crossing sign

[4]

Based on the input received during public meetings and input sessions with school administrators, city planning and engineering staff , and the local police department, the following map was created to provide a visual repre-sentation of the projects. Each marker on the map corresponds to an issue in the table on page 3.

Mapping Maquoketa High School Project List

9(

!! ""MHS2MHS1

S 5

TH S

T

W SUMMIT ST

S 4

TH S

T

S V

ER

MO

NT

ST

GR

AN

T S

T

W LOCUST ST

THO

MA

S AV

E

VINE ST

JON

ES

AV

E

S P

RO

SPE

CT

ST

W WASHINGTON ST

ERIE ST

NILES ST

W JUDSON ST

W MONROE ST

ED

DY

PL

LON

GVIEW

DR

CENTER ST

SCHOOL ST

GRANT CT

S 4

TH S

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Maquoketa High School

Safe Routes to SchoolMaquoketa High School

0 500 1,000250 Feet

¯Legend

!! Painted Crosswalks

"" School Crossing Sign