psmin 10-02-23 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

in the community and trying to identify the gaps to fully build out the network over the next few years. He explained that there are elements of the Safe Routes to School program incorporated into the plan which is important in Lakewood since we are a bus free district, and they would like to see more kids biking and walking to school in place of vehicular drop-offs. The second initiative is the Safe Streets for All grant which is focused on vehicular safety. He said there is a significant amount of federal funding infrastructure dollars being directed towards creating safe streets. The analysis is looking at the high-risk network in the city for vehicular and pedestrian interactions and will make broad recommendations to help the city get to the goal of zero roadway deaths. The efforts have been going on for over a year and are in the final stretch. He stated that just today they distributed a map of the proposal for the Active Transportation Plan for public comment. He said the Safe Streets for All grant is in a similar stage and they expect the plans to be ready to present to City Council soon. Director Leininger also reported that as part of these efforts they asked the consultant to take a look at the 29 crossing guard locations and make recommendations for changes. He reviewed the current map of locations and showed the proposed map based on the consultant’s recommendation which would increase the total number of crossing guard locations to 37. In response to a question, Director Leininger explained the high-risk network is the result of a data exercise looking at the five year history of vehicular and pedestrian crashes and identifying where the risk corridors are. As expected, they are mostly along Clifton, Detroit, Madison and Warren. They then overlayed that data with where the students live and the routes they are most likely to take to school if they were walking or biking. Councilmember Bullock stated that he supports the decision to remove the cap on hiring substitute crossing guards. He also said he appreciates all the analysis but that he thinks we know without waiting for more data that we need to invest in more traffic guards. He acknowledged the difficulties of hiring more traffic guards but emphasized that the city needs to tackle it with a sense of urgency. Chairman Baker clarified that the city is not codifying this map, but that it is a tool necessary to access funding streams and he thought it was worthwhile for the committee and public to see. Bullock commented that it is a wonderful map, he just hopes to use this as a minimum and not the maximum. He stated he believes Council has very firm footing to prioritize expanding traffic guards this year. Councilmember Kepple asked a question about where one of the traffic guards was proposed to be relocated and Director Leininger replied it will be moved a block north to Clifton and Nicholson. Kepple expressed her support for that move since she teaches at Garfield in the afternoon and agrees that it is a problem area. Chairman Baker discussed a bit more background of how this process got started and how the school district has also been engaged in this endeavor. He invited Director Mark Walter to share his thoughts. Director Walter shared that he was previously an elementary school and middle school principal and that he has seen far too many kids hit and he believes this discussion is long overdue. He said he reached out to the elementary and middle school principals about this topic before he saw this map, and that a lot of the feedback he received has been addressed with the added locations that have been proposed. He also said that the school has a lot of part time employees and he would be happy to help advertise the traffic guard positions. Chairman Baker agreed there might be an opportunity to explore ways to partner with the schools on filling some of the traffic guard positions, especially those that are on or near school grounds. He stated 2