The Florida Department of Transportation recently presented its 2020 Planning Innovation of the Year award to the City of Tampa for its Crosswalks to Classrooms Painted Crosswalk program. The statewide award recognizes innovation in transportation.
"The innovative and collaborative efforts to combine public art and engineering treatments to improve school safety was truly inspiring," says Alison Stettner, Director of the Office of Policy Planning with the FDOT. "The City of Tampa's commitment to Vision Zero is evident as projects such as the Crosswalks to Classrooms showcase what can be done when we think outside the box. The review committee was very impressed with the Crosswalks to Classrooms project and the community collaboration to paint almost a dozen crosswalks throughout the city."
Mayor Jane Castor launched the Crosswalks to Classrooms project as part of her Art on the Block initiative, which brings art and artists into the neighborhoods. The City of Tampa commissioned Artist Jay Giroux of the READ Movement to spearhead the crosswalk murals, which were sponsored in part by Jacobs Engineering. Each crosswalk features designs from popular elementary school books with book titles selected by schools.
Tampa's Crosswalks to Classrooms project provides several benefits such as traffic calming, improving street safety, enhancing the livability of streets, revitalizing public spaces, and bringing communities together. In addition, the project aligns with Mayor Castor's commitment to the internationally recognized Vision Zero strategy, which seeks to eliminate all traffic-related fatalities and injuries.
For additional information, contact Danni Jorgenson at (813) 417-0218 or danni.jorgenson@tampagov.net