Lockhart City officials on the work-session agenda reviewed a multi-step approach to reduce speeding and improve pedestrian safety on residential streets, focusing on neighborhoods without sidewalks. Public Works Director Sean Kelly and police staff described short-term enforcement and data collection, intermediate engineering and signage options, and longer-term sidewalk and capital projects, and council asked staff to return with a policy framework and targeted proposals.

Kelly told the council the goal is “to improve neighborhood livability and pedestrian safety while balancing access, and emergency response.” He reviewed common complaints — speeding, lack of sidewalks, cut-through traffic, and visibility — and described “engineering, education and enforcement” measures the city uses when residents request traffic calming.

Under the three-tier plan Kelly described, immediate steps include directed police patrols and placement of temporary radar trailers that record speed and counts. Midterm responses can involve traffic studies (he estimated $3,000–$5,000 depending on scope), signage, striping and raised delineators; longer-term measures would require capital investment for lane narrowing, curb extensions and sidewalks. Kelly said speed cushions — the bolt‑on “cushions” used in some Texas cities — cost about $1,700 each, and the city has historically favored lower-cost alternatives before installing cushions or humps. He added that speed humps can delay emergency vehicles and that the city currently has no speed humps on public residential streets.

Captain Danny Williams of the Lockhart Police Department described enforcement practice and use of the department’s single speed trailer. “The speed trailer will go out depending on the situation. It could be a week, could be a couple weeks,” he said, adding that the trailer collects data the department uses to set patrols. Williams and council members noted rumble strips and delineators as cost-effective ways to raise driver awareness; Williams said rumble strips tend to “wake drivers up.”

Residents urged faster action in specific blocks. Paul Rockwood, who lives on South Blanco Street, said a distracted driver nearly hit his wife and asked for a timeline for a traffic study; the council and staff agreed to include his block on the speed‑cushion trial list. Taylor Burge, a downtown business owner and neighborhood resident, suggested inexpensive plastic posts (delineators) to visually narrow streets as a test in problem locations.

Kelly summarized the direction staff heard: use directed patrols and the speed trailer for immediate enforcement and data collection; add temporary visual tools where appropriate; beef up public information so residents know how to request traffic‑calming reviews; and develop a policy framework, in coordination with police, fire and the city engineer, for council consideration. Councilmember John Larson (councilman Larson) asked that staff prioritize the Rockwood block for a trial of speed cushions.

The presentation also covered funding and larger sidewalk planning. Kelly said the city applied to TxDOT’s Transportation Alternatives Program for a $2,000,000 sidewalk grant requiring a $400,000 local match and that the city’s capital budget contains only modest sidewalk funding at present. Councilmembers and staff agreed the next step was to return with a policy and neighborhood recommendations — including any pilot installations — within several weeks to a couple of months.

Where residents raised operational concerns — whether delivery vehicles or trash collection could navigate narrowed streets, or how new curb ramps would affect drainage — staff noted those issues must be resolved in the engineering phase. The council left the item with direction to: (1) increase data‑driven enforcement and speed‑trailer deployments; (2) expand public information on how to submit traffic‑calming requests; (3) pilot low‑cost delineators and (where feasible) speed cushions in selected streets; and (4) draft a formal traffic‑calming policy for future council consideration.

The council did not take a formal vote on specific installations at the meeting and emphasized that long‑term changes will require coordination with emergency services and budget approvals.