Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Transportation Pedestrian Safety topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Council presses staff on funding shortfall for Transportation Master Plan and pedestrian safety measures
Summary
Councilors asked why short-term Transportation Master Plan projects and pedestrian-safety measures are not reflected in the CIP and pressed staff for funding options, citing a previously passed pedestrian-safety resolution and requests for reboundable signs and mobile speed devices.
Councilors told staff they expected the city’s short-term Transportation Master Plan projects and pedestrian-safety measures to be clearly represented in the Capital Improvement Program and questioned where funding for these items would come from.
"If this is the Sears dream catalog, I mean, they're not even getting listed in the catalog at this point," one councilor said, urging staff to align the CIP with the city’s transportation priorities.
Council members asked whether smaller safety items — for example, reboundable pedestrian signs and mobile speed-monitoring trailers — had been considered for grant funding, state programs or the city’s operating budget. Bill Riccio and other staff said some items had been included as line items (pedestrian safety devices at $48,000, Bellevue Avenue annual appropriation of $300,000, decorative lighting $30,000) and that some measures may need grant applications to proceed.
Councilors also noted a prior council resolution on traffic safety that passed unanimously. Staff said the $48,000 figure was intended to fund a set of devices that respond to that resolution but acknowledged parts of the Transportation Master Plan are not yet mapped to the CIP. Staff committed to put short-term transportation priorities on the agenda for a state transportation-improvement call and to clarify whether projects would be pursued via state/federal grants or local funding.
Councilors debated whether some pedestrian safety items belong in the operating budget rather than the CIP; one councilor said he would add a $48,000 line to his operating budget request if necessary. Staff warned that state roads and federal classifications limit what proposals qualify for some state programs and that partnering with the state or committing local match funds is often necessary to obtain awards.
No formal vote was taken; councilors asked staff to return with clearer project-to-funding mappings and a plan for pursuing grants and local funding.
