City staff and members of the City Council’s public streets discussion agreed on a set of near‑term measures to improve pedestrian safety at the Saint Vincent School crosswalk on Mount Vernon Avenue, including repainting the crosswalk, installing short‑term delineators, limited tree trimming and temporary speed‑feedback signage, staff said.

The measures aim to improve sight lines and reduce parking in the crosswalk area during peak drop‑off and pick‑up times. Tom (city staff) described a limited‑use plastic sign on a weighted rubber base that could be placed in the roadway during arrival and dismissal: “they're basically these little plastic signs, delineators that are on a rubber, you know, foot … that you would need to take out there during the times that the crosswalk's at its busiest … place it in the center of the road. It does help. It's another obstacle that the motorist would see, and help, you know, draw attention to the crosswalk.”

Lindsay (school staff) told the group the school and city have used a parent volunteer crossing program and that volunteers wear a yellow vest: “we do a volunteer program, and so 1 of the options for volunteering is for parents and adults to come be crosswalk in the morning and the afternoon.” She said uptake is limited because some parents say it feels unsafe to stand in the travel lane.

Council members and staff discussed deploying a city speed‑feedback unit to the location and rotating portable units between neighborhoods. Council members noted the city currently owns three devices — two hard‑mounted and one portable — and that portable units cost about $4,000 each. “For the first, you know, couple weeks … you slow down, and then suddenly it just becomes part of the scenery if it's not moved around,” a council member said, describing why rotation matters for the devices’ short‑term effectiveness.

Near‑term actions the group recorded include repainting the crosswalk, placing delineators to prevent parking that obstructs sight lines, pruning trees that obscure the rapid flashing beacons, and deploying a speed‑feedback sign to be rotated into the area. The police chief said the department will add patrols and move a portable sign to the crosswalk next week: “I will get … 1 of those signs moved over there. We'll pick out a location for it, and we'll get it moved over there next week,” the chief said.

Mid‑ and long‑term options discussed but not yet authorized include permanent curb extensions (bump‑outs) to move flashers closer to approaching drivers, moving the crosswalk slightly west to improve tapering with the nearby MacArthur intersection, raised crosswalks and a traffic signal or pedestrian phase study. Staff cautioned that raised treatments can affect snowplow operations and that some treatments (rumble striping, permanent raised features) are not recommended next to residences and churches because of noise and plow impacts.

Council members and staff said the MUTCD (Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices) guidance supports adult crossing‑guard programs; the mayor and staff asked the school administration to confirm willingness to recruit volunteers. Staff also said changes that would change a state route or truck routing (such as moving Route 36 to Chestnut Street) would require coordination with ODOT.

Next steps recorded in the discussion: staff will inspect sight lines and signage, arrange tree trimming where necessary, repaint striping, place delineators, determine deployment of a speed‑feedback unit (purchase or redeploy existing units), coordinate volunteer crossing‑guard support with Saint Vincent, and increase patrols and parking enforcement in the area. Council members also agreed to conduct a paired observation at peak drop‑off and pick‑up times to observe traffic and pedestrian interactions and to communicate the planned steps to the school administration and parents.

The meeting closed with a standard motion to adjourn that carried without objection.