By Benjamin Millar
Walking and cycling to school could soon become safer on inner-west streets thanks to a new guide along key traffic routes.
Bicycle Network’s Ride2School Active Paths program will help students walk and ride to school while learning more about road safety along the way, following a $210,000 grant from VicRoads.
The Active Paths program will be rolled out across Footscray and Kingsville and is due to be in place by the start of term two in 2020.
Brightly coloured stamps will be applied to footpaths along select routes to school gates, guiding pupils to recommended paths and supervised crossings.
Every road crossing will have bright “stop point” markers to remind students to “Stop, Look, Listen, Think”.
Maribyrnong council will help to implement the program, which aims to reduce pedestrian and cyclist accidents on local streets.
Maribyrnong mayor Martin Zakharov said Active Paths was a great way to encourage some of the area’s youngest residents to ride or walk to school.
“Not only will they learn more about road safety, but they will also benefit from being active,” he said.
