Title
Resolution to Implement Pedestrian Safety Improvements at the Fuller Road Crosswalk at Huron High School
Body
Whereas, Several pedestrian safety improvements have been made at Huron High School over the last two+ years including improvements on Huron Parkway as well as installing new streetlights and a RRFB at the Fuller Road crosswalk;
Whereas, There is broad agreement that additional safety improvements at the Fuller crosswalk are needed, but there is not a community consensus on the specific actions that are optimal;
Whereas, A December 2016 Road Safety Audit conducted by the city recommended re-locating the crosswalk from its current location at the Gallup Park entrance to approximately 400 feet to the West, and re-locating the crosswalk to the west (and installing a new sidewalk) remains the City’s recommended improvement action:
Whereas, Many residents (including Huron High parents and students) have expressed the concern that if the crosswalk is moved, some students and other pedestrians coming from Gallup Park will continue to cross at the Gallup entrance where a crosswalk would no longer exist resulting in a significant safety risk, and those residents continue to favor the initial A2 Safe Transport recommendation of adding a pedestrian refuge island at the existing Fuller Crosswalk (A2 Safe Transport had also recommended the new streetlights and RRFB at Fuller which have been installed);
Whereas, On September 17, 2018, City staff requested City Council approve re-locating the crosswalk and Council postponed action for the purposes of conducting additional public engagement and obtaining public input/feedback;
Whereas, On December 3, 2018, City Council rejected City staff’s follow-on request to re-locate the crosswalk, and Council passed resolution R-18-472 directing the City Administrator to study options for the crosswalk and provide a report to Council with the projected costs and pros/cons of the options identified;
Whereas, On March 4, 2019, the City Administrator’s response to resolution R-18-472 was provided as communication item AC-2 identifying three options, two of which were deemed viable:
• (Option 2) widening Fuller at the existing location and adding a pedestrian refuge island
• (Option 3) re-locating the crosswalk approximately 400 feet to the west;
Whereas, The city-incurred cost for the pedestrian refuge island alternative (Option 2) at $140,000 is modestly higher than the $116,000 city cost for re-locating the crosswalk (Option 3), but improving the existing location - unlike re-locating the crosswalk - does not pose a potential safety risk inherent in assuming a behavior change will occur automatically and fully; and
Whereas, The improvements to the existing crosswalk (Option 2) can be constructed in Summer 2019 while construction of the re-located crosswalk (Option 3) can’t occur until Summer 2020;
RESOLVED, That City Council believes that further improvement to Huron High School’s Fuller crosswalk is a pedestrian safety priority and Council further believes that widening Fuller Road at the existing crosswalk location and adding a pedestrian refuge island (Option 2) is the optimal improvement action; and
RESOLVED, That City Council directs the City Administrator to proceed with constructing the Option 2 improvement this Summer prior to the start of the school year in the Fall and to include $140,000 in the FY20 budget for that purpose.
Sponsored by Councilmembers Lumm and Griswold