IF YOU BUILD IT, THEY WILL RIDE Have you ever experienced the queue of cars lined up around the City’s schools at dismissal? Yikes! Police will tell you it’s our City’s worst traffic issue. Des Moines Public Schools (DMPS) estimates just 12 percent of students bike or walk to school, so anything we can do to promote alternatives to the auto makes sense. Research shows that walking and biking lead to healthy lifestyles, too. Last spring, during a visit to Merrill Middle School

TRAFFIC SIGNALS SLATED FOR IMPROVEMENTS In late July, City officials were notified of a $13 million Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation. The grant included funding for additional reflective backplates—yellow frames around overhead traffic signals—credited with helping reduce collisions at intersections. As a result, the City has decided to install the backplates at all signalized intersections within the city limits. SS4A fun