Biking has come to the 7-12 campus in Chagrin Falls! 

After a year of discussions on how to make this a safe option for students, this year middle school and high school students will be permitted to cycle to school.  The image to the right shows the beginning of the construction of the bike lane through the two ball fields.  The path was designed to curve around and preserve the root systems of the existing tall trees.   Looks great, doesn’t it?  Bike racks will be installed at the end of this path before the main drive on campus.  The students on bike must use the sidewalk on Washington to enter the path.  They must also stop at the parking lot crossing to look for traffic – but all and all, a great improvement for our student cyclists and walkers.  In order to celebrate the new policy, Safe Routes will sponsor a contest in the fall for middle school cyclists.  Look for info here as well as in your student’s email newsletters.

As the snow blankets our town, we all need to move a little more carefully.

It’s winter.  Not officially, yet – but no one can deny that we’ve got the winter look with over a foot of snow on the ground and more on the way.  Keeping our sidewalks clear is a complex challenge.  At Safe Routes, we recognize that snow can stop student walkers in their tracks.  The first step to making the pathways safe is to encourage our able-bodied residents and businesses to do their best to comply with the Village snow removal regulations.

543.02  Removal of Ice and Snow From Sidewalks

It shall be the duty of the owner of each and every parcel of real estate in the Municipality abutting upon any sidewalk to keep such sidewalk abutting his premises free and clear of snow and ice and to remove therefrom all snow and ice within two hours after the most recent accumulation of ice or snow, or if during the night, two hours after sunrise, or, if notice by the Municipality, within two hours of such notice.  Notice is adequate whether oral or written and served upon the owner or occupant, or posted in writing on the main entrance of the premises.  (Ord. 1987-44 Passes 10-26-87)

543.04  Materials on Streets and Sidewalks

No person shall encumber any street, sidewalk or tree lawn or, being the owner, occupant or person having care of any building or lot of land bordering on any street or sidewalk, permit the same to be encombered with barrels, boxes, cans, articles or substances of any kind, so as to interfere with the free and unobstructed use thereof.

No person shall sweep, shovel or pile or, being the owner, occupant or person having care of any building or lot of land bordering any street, sidewalk, alley or public place, permit or cause the sweeping, shoveling or piling of any snow, ice, leaves, branches, twigs, brush or grass upon any street, alley or public place. (Ord. 1963-558. Passed 2-11-63)

Please advise your snow plow operators that they must not push snow onto the sidewalks.

If you have any questions, please call the Chagrin Falls Service Department at (440) 247-5053. 

So – that’s step one.  Still, sometimes the snow blocking the sidewalk isn’t simply a result of lax shoveling.  We hope to take a closer look at some of our snow problems and try to proposed some long term solutions.  Unfortunately, the Safe Routes to School federal program does NOT fund anything related to snow removal.  This is an unfortunate fact.  Our program tried to make the case for snow equipment in our application – but it was denied.  Never the less, we haven’t given up on the problem.  It’s just something we may have to solve on our own.  Any ideas?  Complicated snow problems in your area?  Please let us know.  Email SafeRoutesChagrin@yahoo.com.

Student pedestrians line up for hot chocolate before school.

Walk to School Day was very successful in 2010.  We had to cancel the first date scheduled because of heavy rain swamping the park.  Luckily, rescheduling to a Friday afternoon turned out to be fortuitous.  Our turn out was high from BOTH the Intermediate School and the Middle School.  It was so high, in fact, that we ran out of hot chocolate and breakfast treats.  Next year, we will prepare for more morning walkers.  This is great news; we’ve increased the number of children walking TO school many fold since last year’s event.

Activites at the park on Walk to School Day 2010

The after school “Walk to Town” festival included over 100 middle school students this year.  The Chagrin Falls Historical Society put together a scavenger hunt throughout town.  Students competed both as teams and individually.  The children from Chagrin Falls Intermediate School – 140 of them! – arrived at the park behind our trademark Safe Routes Chicken.  They visited booths sponsored by  local fitness businesses ranging from Kuk Sol Do to ballet.  They also had healthy snacks provided by our local business.   We had a contest for the heaviest backpack carried.  The winner’s backpack weighed 14 lbs.  That’s a LOT of schoolwork!