During this period of changing demographics and rising fuel prices, Miami Township is committed to making the community more walkable with sidewalks.
The purpose of this planning process is to plan for connections between our residential neighborhoods and activity centers such as schools, parks and businesses. The ‘Connections' committee was formed earlier this year as a partnership between local schools and the township to improve pedestrian travel, give students and residents an opportunity to enjoy more physical activities, as well as possibly reduce traffic from cars traveling short distances within their own neighborhood to visit stores, schools and other destinations that might otherwise be made via sidewalks.
The Miami Township Connections Plan is a plan in two parts. First, it is a comprehensive long-range plan for sidewalk and pathway access throughout Miami Township. Second, the plan will have a specific section that will focus on pedestrian and bicycle travel to schools.
If the Trustees approve the plan, it will allow the township to seek grants and other funding sources to hopefully construct sidewalks to make it easier to get to schools, parks and businesses.
Contact Community Development Director Larry Fronk, or to submit comments via email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
School Travel Plans
Miami Township, in cooperation with the Milford Exempted Village School District and the residents of Miami Township, chose to undertake the "Miami Township Connections" plan after reviewing Ohio's Physical Activity Plan and the School Travel Plans Program. Miami Township felt it important to connect our residential neighborhoods with activity centers to offer the residents an alternative to driving. In reviewing land use in the Township, it was found the most important and the busiest activity centers are the schools.
Click Here to view the draft School Travel Plan. This is a work in progress
and is subject to change. Most of the work to date has been data gathering.
The 'School Travel Plan' will emphasize five areas (click to go to the area):
- Engineering - Operational and physical improvements within 2 miles of a school
- Education - focus on safety and the mechanics of walking and biking to school
- Encouragement - focus on the benefits of walking and biking to school
- Enforcement - enforcement of traffic laws
- Evaluation - collecting data and documenting outcomes and trends
Engineering
The purpose of the engineering section of the School Travel Plan is to identify existing conditions within 2 miles of a school as they relate to walking and bicycling to school.
Once the existing conditions are documented, then engineering solutions can be developed to provide connections between residential neighborhoods and schools.
At a May 2008 meeting, representatives of the Township, the school district, residents and students discussed the existing physical conditions around each school in Miami Township. Those in attendance also identified potential challenges to walking and biking to school.
The potential challenges to walking and biking for each target school are identified below. A consulting engineer is developing possible engineering solutions to these challenges.
Existing Physical Conditions and Potential Challenges
Milford Junior High School and High School
• Lack of sidewalk on Wolfpen Pleasant Hill Road• Lack of Sidewalk on Deblin Drive
• Lack of sidewalk on SR 131
• Heavy traffic volume on Wolfpen Pleasant Hill Road and SR 131 at peak hours
• No sidewalk to and no crosswalk at Wolfpen Pleasant Hill Road and Eagles Way (signalized intersection)
• No sidewalk to and no crosswalk at SR 131 and Eagles Way
• Crosswalk at Wolfpen Pleasant Hill Road and Deblin Drive
Mulberry Elementary School, St Elizabeth Ann Seton School and St Mark's School
• No sidewalks on Buckwheat Road (Planned for 2009)
• No Crosswalk to Linden Creek Drive and Buckwheat Road
• No Crosswalk at Mulberry Elementary and Community Park.
Meadowview Elementary School
• No Sidewalk on Mt. Zion Road
• No Sidewalk on Dry Run Road
• Deep drainage ditches
• Limited right-of-way
• No crosswalk on Mt Zion Road at school entrance
Boyd E Smith Elementary
• Heavy traffic volumes on Branch Hill Guinea Pike during peak hours
• No sidewalk on Branch Hill Guinea Pike
• No sidewalk on Jer Les Drive
• Limited right-of-way
• No crosswalk on Branch Hill Guinea Pike at Jer Les Drive
McCormick Elementary School
• Heavy traffic volumes on Branch Hill Guinea Pike and Loveland Miamiville Road during peak hours
• No sidewalk on Branch Hill Guinea Pike except on commercial lots at intersection
• No sidewalk on Loveland Miamiville Road except at commercial lots at intersection
• Intersection of Branch Hill Guinea Pike and Loveland Miamiville Road very busy at peak hours. There are three to four lanes to cross.
Seipelt Elementary School
Lack of sidewalk on SR 131
Lack of sidewalk on Wolfpen Pleasant Hill Road
Heavy traffic volume on SR 131 at peak hours
Education
The focus of the education component is to teach students, parents and drivers the importance of safety and obeying traffic laws. Miami Township already has in place two safety programs aimed at students - Safety Town and Bicycle Safety.
Encouragement
The focus of the Encouragement section is strategies about having fun. These can include special events such as celebrating International Walk to School Day or on-going activities such as the Walking School Bus or Bicycle Train.
Enforcement
The focus of the Enforcement section is to deter unsafe behaviors of drivers, pedestrians and bicyclists. This is done primarily through education and awareness programs. When necessary, enforcement officers will ticket dangerous behavior. What is dangerous behavior?
• Speeding in a school zone
• Failing to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk
• Parking in a crosswalk
• Passing a stopped school bus