By Christian Mignot

Los Altos-based Girl Scout Troop 1099 is teaming up with the Los Altos Police Department to prepare a presentation about bike safety that will be given by officers at local elementary schools in early October.

The presentation comes at a time when traffic safety issues have gained new levels of importance for Los Altos elementary school children. The relocation of Almond School to the Egan Junior High School campus and Springer School to the new Covington site while renovations take place has increased bicycle traffic.

The campus shift will force children to take new routes to school in the morning, which may entail crossing busy city streets. The need to educate elementary school students about how to safely cycle and walk on streets is a growing concern for parents and school administrators.

“Some kids will have to cross big streets and walk a lot farther than before, something they are not used to doing,” said Venkat Ramasamy, who is directing the presentation for the Scouts. “Kids have not had much safety education, and the traffic has gotten bad in the last few years, so they really need to be careful.”

The Girl Scouts will design the presentation as part of their yearly community service program. The presentation will be split in two segments - one for K-3, focusing on how to ride bikes correctly and safely; and another for grades 4-6, discussing the importance of riding single file and how to change lanes.

“We met with the kids to find out from their perspective what is most important when it comes to bike safety,” Police Chief Don Johnson said. “These programs are critical to the safety of kids, and also critical to their parents.”

The presentation will supplement other efforts to provide students of the temporary camp schools with greater safety, such as the painting of two new crosswalks on San Antonio Road and the attempted initiation of a school bus program for the neighborhood.

“More and more people are understanding that student bike and pedestrian safety is really important,” said Maria Murphy Lonergan, an adult-leader of Girl Scout Troop 1099, whose daughter is a fifth-grader at Almond School. “This presentation will also be happening on a bigger backdrop: current long-term plans to make streets around Almond campus safe.”

The Almond School PTA has started the Almond Safe Routes to School Committee, in charge of researching and developing long-term solutions to provide safety in the streets surrounding Almond Campus currently under renovation.

The committee was given a $50,000 grant to examine ideas for reducing traffic speed and providing more options for the pedestrian. Proposals presented so far include raised crosswalks, roundabouts and extended sidewalks to areas on Almond Avenue.

Meetings are scheduled 7-9 p.m., tomorrow and Oct. 3, at the Los Altos Youth Center; and 3-5 p.m., Oct. 13, at the Hillview Center Room A.