UCI students help city gain Caltrans grant

Deirdre Newman

Two Westside schools will be getting traffic safety signs in their

neighborhoods thanks to the diligent work of UC Irvine graduate

students.

The students, who are in the Department of Planning, Policy and

Design at UCI, helped the city prepare a grant proposal to Caltrans

that funded 90% of the project’s cost.

The grant will enable the city to purchase and install fluorescent

green warning signs and changeable speed limit signs near Wilson and

Whittier elementary schools. The signs will enhance traffic safety

for the many Westside children that walk to these schools.

On Feb. 17, the City Council approved guidelines for the

installation of the signs since staff members anticipate requests for

additional signs once the first six go up. The first batch of signs

is expected to be installed before the start of the 2004-05 school

year, Assistant Engineer Armando Rutledge said.

The collaboration between the students and the city was beneficial

to both parties, said Associate Professor Kristen Day, whose students

worked on the grant project.

“It was just a great opportunity for both sides where the UCI

students were able to learn a lot more about transportation planning

and were able to help the city because what they have to offer is

enthusiasm and a lot more time and interest in these issues,” Day

said. “By working on this together, it’s my sense that it’s a project

that wouldn’t have happened otherwise.”

Day’s students study urban design and behavior so they had

examined issues like how the design of neighborhoods affects people,

she said. She wanted her students to learn how to improve safety for

children walking to school through better neighborhood planning.

Day approached Rutledge asking if the city had ever applied for a

California Safe Routes to School grant on the Westside. When Rutledge

said no, she offered her students to help out with the research.

The class began analyzing five schools on the Westside by

interviewing principals, collecting data on traffic problems and

doing visual surveys of the neighborhood. Ultimately, the students

focused on Wilson and Whittier due to need and principal support, Day

said.

After the class ended, the students submitted a draft of the grant

proposal to the city. One of the students, Abhishek Tiwari,

volunteered to work with Rutledge on refining the proposal because he

wanted to get more experience working on transportation issues.

Tiwari said he learned the value of doing fieldwork in helping

with the proposal.

“You have to go out into the community and look at what’s going

on, rather than speculating on, ‘this is what I think they need,’”

Tiwari said.

City officials found out they had received the grant in November.

The total cost of the project is $95,700. Since the grant covers 90%

of that, the city is hoping to use staff members’ time to install the

signs for the remaining 10% so it won’t require any extra city funds,

Rutledge said. But the city does have to front the money for the

signs and will then be reimbursed with the grant funds.

Wilson Principal Candy Sperling said she is looking forward to

seeing the new signs.

“I’m happy to have them and happy that [the students] were

successful for that,” Sperling said. “Whatever we can do to make sure

the kids are safe -- that’s our main goal.”