Collaboration between residents, city council and city planners improves walkability between a corner store and elementary school. The safe route encourages children to walk and bike to school, while also increasing access to healthy food.
- The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. This journey is only a couple of blocks and it’s taken many steps to achieve. The walk from Big B’s Market to Kimball Elementary is only two blocks, but it took three years and $1.8 million to improve.
- Community leaders, city council and city planners collaborate to initiate walkability improvements.
- The City of National City built wider sidewalks, bulb outs for traffic calming and shortened pedestrian crossing distances including ramps that meet the ADA standards. The biggest changes can be seen at Kimball Elementary. The school zone is clearly marked with bright signage, striped raised crosswalk, new lighting and landscaping. The school has a new plaza area with benches and bike rack.
- These changes expand all the way to Big B’s Market, which is a corner store two blocks from the school and is a participant in the Retail Program led by UC San Diego Center for Community Health. These improvements not only encourage children to walk and bike to school, but also increase their access to healthy food. Additionally, Rady Children’s Hospital Safe Routes to School Program trained parents as parent patrol volunteers to ensure children make it safely to school.