Petition for the Mahtomedi school district, local governments, and partners to provide safer walking and biking routes for students/families to Mahtomedi schools. Sign and share to indicate your support! Comment on particular areas of concern and/or opportunities.

The Mahtomedi school district will be unable to meet social distancing recommendations on school buses in the new school year without drastically increasing transportation expenses. A likely increased number of parents/students driving to schools will increase already congested school entrances. Many students/families could walk or bike to school but the lack of safe routes discourages this healthy, environmentally-friendly, and equitable alternative to busing and driving.

Immediate steps should be taken to provide safer walking and biking routes to school for students and families living near Mahtomedi schools. The Mahtomedi school district, along with area municipalities and partners, should work together to act on this list of community-sourced safety improvements to make walking and biking to Mahtomedi schools a feasible alternative to busing/driving. This would ensure that buses remain a safe option for students living too far to walk/bike and provide an alternative for students and families for which driving is not an option.

We have three young children; one will be at Wildwood and another at O.H. Anderson for the 2020-2021 school year. We moved to Mahtomedi nearly 8 years ago because we appreciated the small-town feel, the highly regarded schools, and the opportunity for our family and our children to walk and bike to community amenities. Although we are within walking/biking distance to the district schools, the lack of sidewalks/trails and unsafe crossings make these journeys more precarious than they need to be. Providing safe routes for biking/walking to school is a win-win situation for the District, students and their families, and the Mahtomedi community.

reference: list of suggested safety improvements

see also: 20 is Plenty for Mahtomedi Residential Streets; Hwy 12 Mahtomedi Greenway Transportation Options for All

UPDATES:

• 9/15/20: The Mahtomedi City Council held a workshop to discuss the safety issues. The city will develop a report with specific engineering recommendations to address areas of concern.
• 12/1/2020: The Mahtomedi City Council held a workshop to review the draft report, a Traffic Safety Improvement Study. The City is finalizing this document and estimating costs of the proposed changes to determine next steps. The draft report is available at https://www.ci.mahtomedi.mn.us/AgendaCenter/ViewFi....