Parents and teachers press West Linn council for safer crossings near Atlas Immersion Academy

Parents, teachers and neighborhood residents urged the West Linn City Council Monday to address pedestrian safety and add pedestrian-activated flashing beacons at an existing crosswalk near Atlas Immersion Academy, citing dark, rainy conditions and heavy traffic during arrival and dismissal.

Why it matters: Speakers said the current crosswalk visibility and nearby vehicle speeds create daily safety concerns for students, staff and families. They presented a petition with more than 100 signatures and asked the council to pursue near-term solutions in addition to integrating changes into longer-term planning.

Michael Salvaggio, a Willamette neighborhood resident with two children who attend Atlas, told the council he does not feel safe letting children walk across the corridor because of “a sharp turn on Willamette Falls Drive” and poor visibility in rain and darkness. "We've got a situation here where our children are ... attending a school that we don't really feel comfortable with them walking around outside of the school," he said, and asked the council to add the group's petition to the meeting record.

Kristine Lewis, who identified herself as a West Linn resident and a Metro Council member, advised the council that while planning work on Plymouth Falls Drive is underway in phases, the city should consider state-of-the-art pedestrian crossings and act now on interim measures. "We need to take action now since we have a corridor that's high use, that has low visibility, and has multiple high [risk] times in the room at the same time," she said.

An Atlas Immersion Academy staff member read a written statement from a colleague describing close calls where drivers stopped as little as "less than 2 feet away" from pedestrians in the crosswalk and said staff and parents routinely park across the street for events when school parking is full. The staffer asked the council to "please keep our community safe" and urged installation of flashing lights.

Council response and next steps: The mayor and council members said they hear the community's concerns and confirmed staff have directed the Transportation Advisory Board to evaluate crossing and parking requests citywide, noting funding constraints often determine timing. Council members discussed temporary measures, and one suggested exploring use of the historic city hall parking to reduce cross-street trips during events. The council accepted the petition and said staff would follow up through the Transportation Advisory Board process.

No formal action or appropriation was adopted at the meeting; the council referred the matter to advisory staff and confirmed it would research possible short-term and longer-term engineering and parking solutions.

Ending: The petition and signatures were received for the record and the council said it will report back as staff and the Transportation Advisory Board evaluate options.