Seaside and Marina children to benefit from $360,000 grant

A new grant will help improve walking and bicycling for children in Seaside and Marina.

The Transportation Agency in partnership with the cities of Seaside and Marina, the County Health Department and Ecology Action, announced they have been awarded a $360,000 State Transportation Planning Grant.

Officials say child safety and health are of great concern in the cities of Seaside and Marina. In 2014, the California Office of Traffic Safety ranked Seaside as 4th worst out of 89 similar sized cities for pedestrians under 15 years old to be injured and killed.

Childhood obesity is also an issue in the area. Nearly half of 5th grade students in the Monterey Peninsula Unified School District (which includes all schools in Marina, Seaside and Monterey), were overweight/obese in 2015.

The Seaside & Marina Safe Walking & Biking to School: Complete Streets Plan will identify barriers to safe, convenient transportation and guide future improvements around 15 city schools to help address school-based traffic and improve student health by fostering increased biking, walking and carpooling. This plan will provide the basis for future investments in infrastructure by the local Measure X Safe Routes to Schools program, the SB 1 local road rehabilitation program, and the infrastructure portion of the Active Transportation Program. Community participation is an integral part of the planning process and will involve active participation by parents, school administrators, neighbors, City staff and officials, health professionals, community advocacy groups and students from fifteen K-12 schools.

The plan will take two years to complete. Work will begin in June 2018 and be completed by June 2020.