Students can learn about traffic safety and street design this summer while walking or riding their bikes on a small-scale version of the city’s street system that will be painted with chalk at two elementary schools.
Pop-Up Traffic Gardens
A “Pop-Up Traffic Garden,” featuring various road types including one- or two-lane streets, crosswalks and roundabouts, will be painted with liquid chalk designed to last for one week each at Garfield and Roosevelt elementary schools.
There will be signs on how to maneuver around the traffic garden and information on how to earn prizes while practicing pedestrian and bicycle safety skills.
“The Traffic Garden provides school students with a resource, creates a public recreation site for families, and can help reinvigorate neighborhoods as a physical, educational and public art piece,” said Danielle King, grants manager, special projects, and Safe Kids Thurston County coordinator.
The Pop-Up Traffic Gardens will be available for daycare groups and other community organizations to use on weekdays, and to community members on evenings and weekends, on the following weeks:
- July 11-17: Garfield Elementary (by the play shed)
- August 1-7: Roosevelt Elementary (by the play shed)
Free bike helmet giveaway
In advance of the Pop-Up Traffic Gardens, bike helmets will be distributed at no cost to students from families in need on two dates next month. A limited number of helmets will be available for children 1-18 years of age. Helmets will be distributed:
- June 15: 2-5 p.m. Garfield Elementary (by the play shed)
- June 17: 2:30-5:30 p.m. Roosevelt Elementary (by the play shed)
Several community organizations have teamed to support both the Pop-Up Traffic Gardens and helmet giveaways, including Safe Kids Thurston County, Intercity Transit’s Walk N Roll, Olympia Police Department, Target Zero, Olympia Parks, Arts and Recreation, and the Traumatic Brain Injury Council of Washington.