November 13, 2013 THE VILLADOM TIMES IV • Page 7 Mahwah Township seeking solar-powered school signs by Frank J. McMahon The Mahwah Council has submit- ted another application to the New Jersey Department of Transportation for discre- tionary aid grants to pay for the installa- tion of solar-powered school safety signs on Ridge Road and Fardale Avenue. Those signs would remind motorists of the 25 mile per hour speed limit in those areas. The council wants to install four signs on Ridge Road and two on Fardale Avenue. The Lenape Meadows School, Ridge School, Mahwah High School, and the township’s public library are located on Ridge Road. George Washington School is located on Fardale Avenue. Michael Kelly, the township’s profes- sional engineer, previously advised the council that he had submitted grant appli- cations for these solar-powered signs twice before under the Federal Highway Admin- istration’s Safe Routes to School Program, but the aid was not granted. He explained that discretionary aid is granted wherever the NJDOT decides and he did not think it was likely the NJDOT would grant the aid to the township. However, at a recent public meeting, Kelly advised that he had met with NJDOT officials and learned that, while the department had not yet reviewed the township’s application, there were not many submissions. As a result, he was encouraged that the township might receive the discretionary aid requested. Councilman Charles “Chuck” Jandris suggested that the board of education be asked to split the cost of the signs, which he estimated might be $6,000 each for a total of $36,000. Township Administra- tor Brian Campion was asked where the township would get the money to pay for the signs. Campion said the money would come from the streets and roads account in the budget, but explained that it would have to be included in the 2014 budget. Council President Harry Williams, the governing body’s liaison to the board of education, said he would make the proposal to the school at an upcoming meeting. Novel discussion announced The Morning Book Group at the Mahwah Public Library will discuss Colum McCann’s “Let the Great World Spin” on Monday, Nov. 18. The group will meet at 10:30 a.m. The community is invited. McCann’s novel won the 2009 U.S. National Book Award for Fiction and the 2011 International IMPAC Dublin Liter- ary Award. Its title comes from the poem “Locksley Hall” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson and the plot revolves around two events: Philippe Petit’s sensational 1974 Twin Towers tightrope walk at 110 stories, and a fictional courtroom trial. The library is located at 100 Ridge Road in Mahwah. Call (201) 529-READ. Meanwhile, the council discussed the possibility of including signs that show the speed of vehicles in the Ridge Road and Fardale Avenue locations. The council agreed to discuss that suggestion further if and when the discretionary aid is granted. According to the National Center for Safe Routes to School, research on the safety of children walking and cycling to school began in the U.S. in the early 1970s and was highlighted by the release of the U.S. Department of Transportation publi- cation, “School Trip Safety and Urban Play Areas,” in 1975. The term Safe Routes to School was first used in Denmark in the late 1970s as part of a very successful initiative to reduce the number of children killed as they were walking and cycling to school. The program spread internationally, with programs springing up throughout Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United States. The first modern Safe Routes to School Program in the U.S. began in 1997 in the Bronx, New York. In 1998, Congress funded two pilot SRTS programs through the USDOT. In July 2005, Congress passed legislation that established a National Safe Routes to School Program to improve safety on walking and cycling routes to school and to encourage children and families to use these modes of transportation to travel between home and school. The program, which was signed into law in August 2005, dedicated a total of $612 million toward SRTS from 2005 to 2009. The Federal Highway Administration administered the SRTS funds and provided guidance and regulations about SRTS pro- grams. Federal SRTS funds were distrib- uted to states based on student enrollment with no state receiving less than $1 million per year. SRTS funds could be used for infrastructure projects and non-infrastruc- ture activities. The legislation also required each state to have an SRTS coordinator to serve as a central point of contact. Safe Routes to School programs now operate in all 50 states and in Washington, D.C. Children who benefit from STS funds live in urban, rural, and suburban com- munities with varying income levels and a range of walking and cycling conditions. With legislative extensions, the federal SRTS Program apportioned nearly $1.15 billion as of Sept. 30, 2012. Those funds have benefitted, or will benefit, more than 14,000 schools.