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Council approves $96,000 pedestrian-safety study after debate over scope and medians
Summary
Council approved a professional services agreement with CBB (George L. Crawford & Associates) for a street and intersection pedestrian safety study; council members debated the study's scope, cost, whether it could predetermine ordinance changes restricting median use, and the need to pair analysis with engineering options and MoDOT coordination.
The Columbia City Council voted March 17 to authorize a professional-services agreement with George L. Crawford & Associates (doing business as CBB) to conduct a street and intersection pedestrian safety study with an awarded budget of about $96,000.
Staff described the study scope as an analysis that supports Vision Zero objectives, prioritizes equity and evaluates up to 200 intersections or roadway segments for crash history, traffic volumes, speed information, medians and geometry. The consultant will review national best practices, compare alternatives, and make implementation recommendations.
Council members raised concerns about the scope language. Council member Valerie asked whether task language that mentioned developing recommendations to restrict pedestrian use of medians might pre-determine outcomes. Director Shane Creech (staff lead for transportation/studies) and others said the study is intended to collect and analyze existing crash and infrastructure data, supplement it where needed, and recommend a mix of policy and engineering responses; staff said many engineering fixes (for example, changes to modot-controlled roadways) would take longer and may require cost-sharing with MoDOT.
Public commenters questioned the study cost and urged that funds be spent on immediate capital repairs: one commenter noted a list of traffic-calming projects with lower per-project costs. Staff said the study will assemble existing Vision Zero data, generate missing measurements where required (speeds, medians widths, collision histories) and synthesize best practices into recommendations the council can consider in a work session.
Council approved Council Bill 41-25 by roll call; all members present voted yes. Councilmembers asked staff to present study findings to the council and suggested a work session before any ordinance development so council can evaluate data and options together.
