La Grande granted over $542,000 for school district sidewalk improvements
By Garrett Christensen on Monday, January 20th, 2025 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
LA GRANDE – The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) recently announced that the city of La Grande has been granted $542,148.66 to improve/expand sidewalk infrastructure for the La Grande School District. The funds were authorized by the Oregon Transportation Commission during a meeting on Thursday, January sixteenth, as part of the Safe Routs to School Competitive Construction Grant Program. Out of 89 applicants for this latest round of funding, 28 projects were selected statewide (including La Grande) for a total of 31 million dollars in combined grant funding. $1,557,060.66 were authorized for Region-5 projects specifically.
In a recent press release announcing the funds, ODOT gave the following context on the Safe Routs to School Program:
(From ODOT)
These projects focus on making travel safer within a two-mile radius of schools, prioritizing under-resourced communities to ensure a safer journey for all students.
“It’s important to us to help students and their families get to school safely by foot or bike or mobility device,” said ODOT’s Public Transportation Division Administrator Suzanne Carlson. “We are excited to support cities and counties who want to make these improvements in their communities. They’re making an amazing difference around the state.”
These projects are funded through ODOT’s Safe Routes to School Competitive Construction Grant Program. ODOT received 89 applications for this round of funding, totaling $138.2 million in safety improvements around the state. ODOT and the Safe Routes to School Advisory Committee had to weigh available funding with projects that addressed the highest safety risks, removed barriers for students at low-income schools, and were likely to be completed within five years.
