Mike Bell, a landscape architect with RDG Planning & Design of Des Moines, received a better understanding of what Spencer residents foresee as the current barriers to achieving safer routes to the town's school buildings this week.

Courtesy a $24,630 planning grant Spencer received from the Iowa Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration, Bell was hired to serve as a consultant for developing an action plan. The 43-year-old native of Spencer was quick to point out to those who visited with him this week that "there's the actuality and perception of safety" and that a follow-up educational and awareness process will occur via the national Safe Routes to School (SRTS) program the town finds itself in the midst of.

The SRTS program, which began in Iowa six years ago, resulted from enactment of the federal transportation bill -- the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU). The national program encourages youth and their families, including those with disabilities, to choose walking, bicycling and other active ways to get to and from school. In doing so, its aims are to increase physical activity and better health, to increase safety, to lessen traffic and create a greater sense of community, and to cause a reduction in vehicle emissions.

Residents attending this week's meetings learned that 50 percent of America's children walked to school in 1969. That number is down to 15 percent today. Part of the reason why this decline in activity has occurred is because, one, parents don't deem the routes to school "safe" anymore and, two, many towns have shrunk in size.

Don and Sarah Strock of 505 Fourth St. E. expressed concerns with their elementary-aged daughter and middle school-aged son crossing a busy street on their way to and from school during a Ward One meeting held Wednesday evening.

"Both my children always wanted to walk to and from school or ride their bikes," Sarah Strock said. "But they have to cross Grand (Avenue), and that's a big concern for me."

Parent Gary Hoefling of 1718 Third Ave. W. articulated other concerns related to cultural and criminal issues in Spencer. He detailed that registered sex offenders live nearby, neighborhood "bullies" are positioned at the area's bus stop, and Fourth Avenue West -- which doesn't have a sidewalk on either side of it -- has become a "raceway" for vehicles not required to stop at stop signs.

Julie Nemmers, the Spencer school district's transportation director and a local SRTS committee member, explained to those gathered that 16 in-town bus stops were eliminated this school year.

"The state of Iowa says that any-aged child can walk up to 12 blocks without an issue. We're not even close to that. I would say the longest that a child walks in Spencer is six blocks. But you would be amazed at the comments that I got when we did change those few stops," Nemmers said. "The majority understood why we were doing it. ... But a lot of the parents voiced concerns with crossing Grand. ... They also don't want their kids to cross railroad tracks, and they really don't want them to walk more than three blocks. They think it's unheard of to walk more than three blocks. ... We have to retrain people to think more about shutting the car off and walking. But we have to address their concerns if we're going to make this work."

"Our job is to make sure that we hear all these issues, one," Bell said. "Two, (we need to) make sure that people have a voice in this process. Three, (we'll) bring actual studies from a national and a regional standpoint by using Iowa State University on what is the health condition of our youth today, both nationally and in Iowa; on what is the impact of a better-connected urban environment, both through sidewalk pathways and trails; on what's the impact of a disconnected neighborhood lacking trails and pathways; and on how do we overcome financially, socially and culturally some of the challenges that we are having?"

"The city, in my mind," the consultant continued, "has a desire to invest in its infrastructure to enhance the quality of life. But I would also say that the public should be an equal partner in that investment, through volunteerism and various other mechanisms. I'm a huge proponent of not always relying on the city to take care of the problem. I think it's a public and a private venture that both groups need to come to the table."

The condition of the existing sidewalks in town, as well as the lack of sidewalks in other areas of Spencer, was a focal point for a majority of those attending the ward meetings held Wednesday and Thursday night.

"You have to have a starting point, so the Safe Routes to School (program) is a good kickoff. The rest will eventually catch up," Spencer Police Chief Mark Lawson said. "...Eventually, everything is going to come together and form one heck of a good thing for the residents of Spencer."

As Bell told city leaders, "You need to look at your zoning," he also cautioned: "It's been 25 years since I graduated. And, frankly, what we've been able to do is not invest in sidewalks and neighborhoods, and not replace a lot of the sidewalks since I graduated (from Spencer High School). So, we spent 25 years just kind of creating a circumstance; we will need 25 years or more to potentially correct that circumstance. I don't know how we're going to do that, but that's what this whole process is about. What we're actually trying to do is (decipher) what are the issues."

Insights and information received during Bell's meetings with citizens and a myriad of Spencer representatives this week will be compiled along with traffic monitoring reports from the Spencer Police Department and hundreds of surveys received from parents registering their children for school this year. Another survey is expected to take place next week. In it, teachers will ask Spencer third through fifth grade students how they got to and from school on two days, and distribute disposable cameras for them to photograph the "challenge points" they encountered during each trek.

Results will be reported to the Spencer City Council.

"We're doing a complete inventory of the infrastructure: Both sidewalks and lack of sidewalks, points of conflict in roads, trees, lighting, signage and all those things," Bell explained. "...We'll project an aerial map up of the city with the inventory that we've taken today, and ask the public to comment on their areas of understanding of conflict -- so that we can get to a complete comprehensive understanding of what the issues are within the city, and so that we can start to make recommendations on how to resolve or solve some of the challenges that (Spencer) has."

Ward meetings similar to what were held this week are scheduled for Sept. 17 and 18. It will be during these meetings that Bell will introduce concepts and goals, as well as receive residents' reactions to them.

A working document is then expected to be handed to city officials by Oct. 1.

"This document will not be the end product; it will be a point of beginning that's based on community leadership, demographics, school interests, modes of transportation and on a series of things that we may not even be aware of today," Bell said. "...In the short term, we hope to project firm and fast goals, a cost for achieving those goals and a phase-in plan for the next three-to-five years, along with recommendations."