The West Salem Village Board has given its approval to a program that could draw in federal dollars to create safer walking and biking routes for school children.

Virginia Loehr, program coordinator for the La Crosse County Health Department, gave a Safe Routes to School presentation to board members at last week’s regular meeting.

Sharon Fuller, chairperson of the Bicycle and Pedestrian Ad Hoc Committee, was on hand seeking direction on whether the committee should continue working toward securing a share of potentially millions the state could receive in federal funds.

“It’s very time consuming,” Fuller said of the grant process.

Wisconsin has received more than $10 million in Safe Routes to School funding since 2005. Loehr said she’s seen individual grants as high as $200,000.

Funds come in the form of reimbursements for planning and infrastructure projects. Projects are funded 100 percent; there is no matching component. Communities pay costs up front and are subsequently reimbursed.

Making village streets a safer place for pedestrians isn’t just good for children. “If it’s safe for kids, it’s safe for anyone,” Loehr said.

The program mission statement is: “Where it’s safe, get kids walking and biking. Where it is not safe, make changes.”

Loehr has been working with the Bicycle Pedestrian Ad Hoc Committee and the school district since last year, developing a Safe Routes to School plan.

A component of that plan was the arduous task of auditing the village streets to assess their “walkability.”

Members of the Bicycle and Pedestrian Ad Hoc were given maps and a quadrant of the village to evaluate. They were asked to walk or bike the streets as a child would. As they went, they marked and prioritized areas that need improvement.

Fuller handed out photos to board members, showing some of the hazards committee members found. Not all were as formidable as unsafe intersections. Some were as inconspicuous as utility poles located too near sidewalks.

An audience member asked Police Chief Charles Ashbeck, who was in attendance at last week’s meeting, about the village ordinance regarding bicycles on sidewalks.

Ashbeck said children younger than 10 are permitted to ride their bicycles on village sidewalks and that in high traffic areas like Highway 16 it is preferred for all bicyclists to use the sidewalk.

Loehr said her department’s goal was to have Safe Routes programs in place in all 40 middle and elementary schools in the county. At least 14 are on board so far.

“It’s a challenge, but it’s a good thing to bring back to the community,” said West Salem Middle School Principal Dean Buchanan after viewing Loehr’s presentation at a school board meeting last year. Buchanan also said traffic problems around the schools are caused by parents driving children to and from school.

Loehr offered the startling statistic that 42 percent of students walked to school in 1969. In 2001 that number was down to just 14 percent.

Many parents feel driving their children to and from school is safer and/or more convenient.

“Of course, we’re not saying send your child out alone,” Loehr told the school board last year. “We’re trying to advocate for supervised walking.”