City staff described a plan to install and repair sidewalks along College Street, add a bus stop and pedestrian-safety features at the College and Miami intersection, and tie new walkway segments to an existing sidewalk near First Street, during a public meeting discussion.

The project will “install[] damaged sidewalks along College Street,” add a bus stop at the College and Miami intersection and — if the city chooses — install rectangular rapid flashing beacons at the crosswalk there, a staff member said. The staff member also said the work would include “pedestrian signal improvements at the intersection of College and Miami” and that the new sidewalk would tie into an existing sidewalk at First Street near the housing authority.

Why this matters: staff said the intersection is used by students and pedestrians who congregate there for school, and the project is intended to fill gaps and bring sidewalks up to Americans with Disabilities Act standards. “So it’s gonna fill those gaps and correct any anything that’s not ADA compliant along the route,” the staff member said.

Project details described in the meeting include a single signal pole at the southwest corner of College and Miami that staff said “evidently keeps getting hit by tractor trailers.” The plan would pull back that corner radius and move the pole “a couple feet further away from the curb” so there are “less collisions there with the trucks,” the staff member said. Other signal poles at the intersection would remain in place, the staff member said.

On accessibility, a commenter asked whether the new push-button pedestrian signals “will be modern, you know, that says things like ‘wait, wait,’ you know, like for deaf people.” The staff member replied: “I think they’re audio and visual … I think the buttons have, I believe it’s braille on them as well.” The staff member added that the city’s consultant will complete traffic-signal design: “We’re not personally doing the traffic signal design. All we have a sub consultant, E. F. K. Moen out of St. Louis, who does that design. And then their plans haven’t been finalized yet. Those come in the next stage.”

A different commenter asked, “Are they also widening that intersection at all?” The staff member said the work primarily adjusts the southwest corner radius for truck turns and moves the single pole; the remainder of the intersection geometry and most other signal poles are to remain as is. The staff member described the change as giving “a bigger radius for trucks to turn there.”

On limits of the sidewalk work, the staff member said the new sidewalk will end at the Break Time parking lot and that the project is intended to fill “the gap” in sidewalk between that area and the section of sidewalk the city poured in about 2020–21 on the south side of College. Meeting remarks were inconsistent about a nearby highway reference; the transcript alternately mentioned “65 Highway” and “265 Highway,” and the transcript did not specify which highway reference is correct.

No formal motion, vote or final design was recorded in the meeting excerpt. Staff repeatedly said the signal and detailed design work will be completed by the subconsultant and “come in the next stage.”