Bike advocates in Newton are joining with parent groups to examine how cycling to school can be made safer for students attending Newton South High and two nearby middle schools.
A community meeting slated for Thursday will focus on biking to Newton South and the Brown and Oak Hill middle schools, as well as take a wider look at initiatives aimed at improving bicycle safety around the city, according to the event’s organizers.
“There are a lot of kids in the city who want to bike to school,’’ said Lois Levin, head of Bike Newton. “Getting across Route 9 is pretty dangerous, and these are schools that kids of a certain age should be able to bike to.’’
Michele Davis is a Newton South parent who has explored biking options for her son, but said he’d avoid some of the streets near the school, on Brandeis Road in Newton Centre.
“I don’t think we’d use main streets, I think we’d steer clear of them,’’ she said. “I don’t think drivers are looking for bikes on main roads.’’
Bruce Henderson, copresident of the Oak Hill Parent-Teacher Organization, said the three schools south of Route 9 should work together on a sensible solution.
“With three schools clustered together like that, it makes sense,’’ Henderson said. “It would be great for the people to get together to come up with something that works better.’’
Thursday’s meeting, organized by parent groups and the Newton Bicycle and Pedestrian Task Force, is set for 7:30 p.m. in the Newton South auditorium.
Ideas collected at the forum will be used to draft a proposal that will be submitted to the community for approval, said Sean Roche, vice chairman of the task force.
“We’re planning on collecting input from the various people who have an interest here,’’ Roche said. Then, the group will work the city to develop a plan and “prioritize projects to create bike accommodations.’’
Several ideas will be suggested at the community meeting, said Roche. “We’ve encouraged the city to repave Parker Street to Brandeis Road that heads to Newton South, and we want to figure out a striping plan to make those roads safer for biking.’’
Any steps toward improving biking accommodations around the three schools would be just a starting point to a bigger solution, Roche said.
“Our objective is to improve biking across the city, and we’ve recognized that the way to do this is to look at particular areas and uses,’’ Roche said. “Rather than saying, ‘Hey, we need bike lanes everywhere,’ we’re saying a good focus would be to improve biking in and out of the school complex.’’
Better biking lanes to the schools could also alleviate many traffic concerns in Newton, he added.
“There’s too much traffic; too many kids are being driven to school,’’ Roche said. “Part of this is being driven by the need to reduce traffic around the schools.’’
Henderson supports increasing the use of bicycles, if it’s done right. “It would be great to get more kids biking to school,’’ he said.
“It needs to be a safe way.’’
Roche hopes the meeting will bring people into the Newton biking initiative, and draw people from around the community to offer input and support.
“My hopes are that there is broad participation from all kinds of people, that folks participate and really want to, that they express a high degree of interest in biking in Newton,’’ Roche said. “I hope there is a general consensus about what the priorities are; we really want to hear from people.’’
Roche has concerns, however, that the community could be split on where to begin with biking initiatives.
“I guess my hope is there isn’t a conflict between different groups,’’ Roche.
“I hope that everyone has a shared vision about what the goals ought to be. It would be unfortunate if parents, residents, and bikers all have different ideas.’’
