How walkable are the areas around our schools?

Most school districts in Dutchess County provide busing. However, some districts in walkable areas do not provide busing, or only provide it for students who live beyond a certain distance from the school. Walking to school, though rare in most of our county, is a healthy way to start the day and has numerous other benefits (see sidebar).

There are 71 public school locations (grades K-12) in Dutchess County (a few schools share locations). Almost 40 percent of these are fairly walkable, with at least 20 percent sidewalk coverage; these include schools in the cities of Poughkeepsie and Beacon and most schools in villages. Another 40 percent have no sidewalks—these include schools in both suburban and rural areas. The remaining schools have limited sidewalks, which often makes walking infeasible.

Newer schools are typically built in outlying areas, due in part to school siting policies that require large amounts of land. These locations often do not have sidewalks and are not close enough to clusters of housing to make walking to school a realistic option.

How many schools have access to a rail trail?

Schools with access to a rail trail provide students the option of safely bicycling to school, which, like walking, has numerous physical, emotional, and mental health benefits. However, only three schools are within a half mile of a rail trail: Fishkill Plains Elementary in East Fishkill, Morse Elementary in the City of Poughkeepsie, and Arthur S. May Elementary in the Town of Poughkeepsie. All are near the Dutchess Rail Trail, but none have a dedicated on- or off-street bicycle connection to the trail. In other cases, such as Gayhead Elementary in East Fishkill, a school is relatively close to a rail trail, but the neighborhood streets do not connect to the trail.

How many schools are near high-crash or high-congestion locations?

Safety concerns and congestion can also present barriers to access. About 20 percent of the schools are within a half mile of a high-crash location.  These include schools in the cities of Beacon and Poughkeepsie, Village of Fishkill, and towns of LaGrange, Pleasant Valley, Poughkeepsie, and Wappinger.

Only one school is near a high-congestion location: Arlington High School in LaGrange, which is adjacent to Route 55. School buses from the high school and nearby middle school contribute to the traffic on Route 55.

Based on this analysis, our role could include the following:

• Improve walking access to schools and colleges. Work with partners to fill gaps in sidewalk networks near schools, focusing on schools in centers. A Safe Routes to School planning study could identify the most promising locations. Also work with partners to provide more complete sidewalk networks near colleges.
• Promote bicycle connections to schools and colleges. Very few of our schools and colleges are accessible via a rail trail. In some locations, a connection could be provided either via an off-road path or a low-volume street. A county-wide trail access study could identify and prioritize these and other trail connection projects.
• Improve transit service to colleges. Encourage colleges, particularly DCC and DCC-South, to consider agreements with County Public Transit to allow students and staff to ride County buses for free (see sidebar).
• Continue pedestrian safety education programs in partnership with the County Health Department. Our Watch Out For Me campaign includes educational programs for students.
• Consider access to educational resources, as well as other basic needs, when evaluating potential safety and congestion-related improvements. Provide additional weight for projects that improve access to basic needs in our project selection criteria.