Duluth awarded MnDOT planning grant for districtwide Safe Routes to School plan, ARDC to lead 12''18 month effort

Duluth Public Schools and the Arrowhead Regional Development Commission (ARDC) will develop a districtwide Safe Routes to School plan under a Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) planning-assistance grant, Safe Routes coordinator Andrea Heil told the board on Tuesday.
Heil said the planning project will include community engagement, student travel tallies, pick-up/drop-off observations, student population density mapping, walk audits and crash- and speed-data review. Gavin Bukovich, a planner with ARDC, said the final plan will recommend non-infrastructure programs (education and encouragement) and identify infrastructure needs (crosswalks, sidewalks, improved crossings) and priorities for later grant applications.
Heil said the district already ran walk-bike-fun camps at three elementary schools this past summer and that the program will work with partners including BikeMN, Zeitgeist, Vibrant Streets Duluth and the Duluth Transit Authority. ARDC staff said MnDOT approved an 18-month contract (the typical planning contract is 12 months) because Duluth's project scope and the state funding cadence required a longer period.
The planning timeline calls for steering-committee meetings, a kickoff meeting (planned for mid-October), detailed data collection, development of an action plan and a final plan that can support grant applications to MnDOT and other funders. ARDC described potential funding sources such as MnDOT Safe Routes infrastructure and boost grants, the Greater Minnesota Transportation Alternatives Program (which requires a 20% local match) and other active-transportation funds.
District board members asked for ways to help recruit community participants and for regular notice of public meetings; ARDC and Heil said they will publish meeting information and invited board members to share contacts. Heil said the district would seek community input at school open houses and that steering-committee representation would include school principals, PE teachers, public-works staff, MnDOT and county staff and community organizations. The district also described October 8 as national Walk & Roll to School Day and a winter walk day in February, plus a Bike & Roll day in May.
Heil and ARDC said the plan will be a strategic tool for applying for MnDOT Safe Routes to School grants (both infrastructure and non-infrastructure) and for other funding sources to implement projects that improve walking, biking and rolling access for Duluth students.
No board vote was recorded in the transcript; the presentation outlined planning steps, community engagement and funding pathways.