Getting around on two wheels or two feet is becoming a more attractive options with rising fuel costs, and in Clifton Park that’s poised toget a bit easier.
There are about 18 miles of multi-use trails in the town, andrecent partnerships among the town, Shenendehowa School District and CAPTAIN (Community Action for Parents, Teens and Interested Neighbors), along with recent grant awards, have helped to form a cohesive trail system.
“We try to make more connections between the trail systems and the neighborhoods. In the last 12 years we’ve had several projects. …We’ve been able to secure a number of grants for trail expansion in town and created a comprehensive trail plan,” said Clifton Park Supervisor Phil Barrett.
It is the town’s vision that there will be a continuation of diverse trails, and an interconnection of primary (or trunk) trails with secondary (or feeder) pathway segments, according to a document dedicated to outlining recreational facilities within the town. In 2010 Shenendehowa completed construction of sidewalks on the campus and worked with the town tomake crosswalk improvements on both Moe Road and Clifton Park Center Road utilizing a Safe Routes to School grant. In 2011, the town, school district and the Clifton Park Halfmoon library opened the library trail connecting Moe Road trails to the sidewalk on Wall Street near the YMCA.
“It provides conductivity between neighborhoods, schools and park facilities and provides for safe travel for residents in the town. When the weather is nice, you’ll see people out all over town using the trails,”said Barrett of the trail system.
One of the grants awarded to the Shenendehowa Central School District, in partnership with the town, is a $4,800 grant from the New York State Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee. The money will be used to conduct a bicyclist and pedestrian safety education program entitled Bike Safe Walk Smart for students in grades three to five during the month of May.
“We’ve put in signage along bike trails that talks about the character words of the month, we just put that up this year. In addition to that, last year in May or June, the town and I started working together,” saidRebecca Carman, Director of Policy and Community Development at Shenendehowa.
“Through brainstorming, what we came up with was assembly-type programs for all third through fifth grades in the entire district in May, which is bicycle safety month,” said Rebecca Carman, director of policy and community development at Shenendehowa schools. Helmet fittings and bike giveaways will also be part of the Bike Safe Walk Smart program.
CAPTAIN’s Youth Development Coordinator Steve Eggelston operates a Bike Works program and was brought on board to be a consultant to provide an educational component to the Bike Safe Walk Smart program.
“It works well together because one of Clifton Park’s main concerns has always been bike and pedestrian safety because it’s difficult to keepthe town connected. A lot of the neighborhoods do not have sidewalks, bike lanes are not common. So the only way to get everything together is to join the organizations. CAPTAIN has always run bike programs and bike safety education. Shen is in the middle of the entire Clifton Park area and they have all the kids that are moving around. And the town of Clifton Park maintains all of the roads and paths so to bring all three together is really the only way to get something done like this,” he said.
CAPTAIN’s Bike Works started in 2009 with the idea of providing bikes to lower income families that normally would not be able to afford them.
“We provide new bikes for them if they qualify within the Shenschool district and we also provide adults and younger kids with refurbished bicycles. I can usually fix up bikes that are donated and return them to the adults,” said Eggelston.
With more bicyclists using the trails, there is an increased need for bike racks. To this end, a functional art design competition for bikeracks among high school students in art and technology classes is taking place.Three areas for the bike racks have been identified.
“Almost all of the schools need more bike racks, certain locations need more. At our facility, which is connected to the town courthouse, our main office was one of the places. The other one was the ShenAquatic Center, the library and Clifton Commons,” said Eggelston.
“I went back to work with our administrators at the highschool level who are head of art and technology and said this would be a great service learning project for the kids and a real life applicable experience. Wehad an idea about functional art in the community and wouldn’t it be really cool if we had bike racks in the community that were functional art that tied into the open spaces and all those things that we’re working on and to tie the school with the community itself,” said Carman.
Carman added that the bike racks could be akin to the iconic decorated horse sculptures in Saratoga Springs, and is very excited about the competition.
One of the criteria for the competition is that the racks must fit a theme connected to the facility they will be placed near. About 15 to 20 entries have been received so far and Eggelston has had the chance to take a sneak peek.
“They’re really amazing. Some were bookworms, one was with waves for the Aquatic Center and one was with an octopus that was amazing. One for uswas a family for CAPTAIN. We didn’t expect as many original ideas as they came up with, that’s for sure,” he said.
The top three bike racks for each location will be chosen and then voted on to determine a winner.
A Safe Routes to school grant from 2009 has also enabled the town and school to put trails in throughout the Shenendehowa campus to make things more accessible and open the community. The grant allowed the installation of safety measures, including guardrails.
