Neighbors press council for sidewalks near Bailey and Daley schools; city to deploy counters and study short-term safety fixes

Residents urged the council to move forward on sidewalks and short-term safety measures near Bailey and Daley elementary schools, saying current pick-up and drop-off patterns are unsafe.

Cathy Dillon, an abutter, described a petition and neighborhood survey that showed support for sidewalks on Campbell Drive and Fleming Street and urged the city to commit to the project and communicate plans and timeline to neighbors. “I’m asking you tonight for a firm commitment that this project is happening,” Dillon said.

Councilors and the city manager discussed next steps. The city manager said staff will place traffic counters in the area in the next one to two weeks to gather vehicle counts and timing data; engineering will produce cost estimates and options. He also said short-term, low-cost measures will be explored with the schools, and he will consult with the traffic engineer about possible crosswalk placement and changing no-parking signs to free space for passenger-side drop-off.

Why it matters: councilors emphasized student safety at school arrival and dismissal times. Several councilors said visual observation alone is not sufficient and asked staff to deliver engineering data to support the case for sidewalks and traffic controls. One councilor called for restricting parking to the school side of Campbell Drive to reduce cross-street loading and for “one-way” traffic patterns during school hours as an immediate mitigation.

Next steps: the manager said counters will be installed shortly, staff will review cost and constructability (including whether pole or drainage relocations would be required), and staff will report back with recommended short-term measures and a project timeline. The council took the motion to consider the sidewalk update (agenda item 5.9) out of order so it could be addressed at this meeting.