Thirty days after passing the legislature, the Colorado Safe Routes to School Bill (HB 1039) automatically became law without Governor Owens’ signature.  Bicycle Colorado will work with the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) to help craft the Safe Routes program and make funding available to Safe Routes projects as soon as possible.

The bill put into place the framework to tap into dedicated federal funds at the state level to make our schools safer for children to access by walking or bicycling. The distribution of funds will be determined through a competitive annual grant process hosted by CDOT.

A review committee made up of community members such as parents, teachers and law enforcement officials will review the grant applications and select the winning recipients.

This community-driven process will allow for each area to determine how to best administer the funds to increase the number of children walking and bicycling to school.

We would like to thank the bill sponsors and co-sponsors in the Colorado House and Senate. These are the leaders working to protect children, improve health, and encourage biking and walking.

House Sponsor: Greg Brophy (R); House Co-sponsors: Bob Briggs (R) and Mike Merrifield (D)

Senate Sponsor: Ron Tupa (D); Co-sponsor: Ken Chlouber (R)