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Sherwood readies new bridge, traffic studies and education as e‑bikes, scooters raise safety concerns
Summary
With the new bridge opening for school travel next week and a September grand opening planned, city officials said they will conduct traffic studies, consider added stop signs and expand education and enforcement for e‑bikes, scooters and golf‑cart use near schools and on new paths.
City officials updated the advisory board on traffic-safety projects tied to the newly completed bridge, neighborhood stop‑sign and speed concerns, and plans to use new traffic‑data tools and targeted education to address rising e‑bike and scooter use.
Council and staff said the bridge will open in time for the school term and that a formal grand opening is planned for late September. Officials reported the bridge project came in “on time and under budget” and that funding came from a mix of federal and state grants, an Urban Renewal Agency loan and borrowing from the water capital fund that will be repaid to the city. Staff said some finishing details (railings and lighting elements) will be completed in the fall.
Traffic‑safety staff said they will run a traffic and speed study at the Woodhaven/Pinehurst intersection to evaluate installing two additional stop signs and possibly creating a four‑way stop. The city will also monitor posted concerns about speeding on key streets near schools and may expand enforcement or education at the start of the school year.
Board members discussed a rising local concern about high‑speed private e‑bikes, rental scooters and replica motorcycles that can run at unsafe speeds on sidewalks and shared paths. Officials said rules already exist that differentiate vehicle classes but that enforcement and public education are difficult because distinguishing a legal from an illegal device by sight is hard. The board recommended targeted school‑year education, working with school resource officers and neighborhood outreach ahead of heavier use on the new bridge and adjacent multi‑use paths.
Staff also described a planned deployment of an Urban SDK traffic‑data subscription that uses aggregated GPS data to estimate average speeds and traffic volumes without identifying individual vehicles; the city will use the product to supplement traditional tube counts for more continuous monitoring. The city said the subscription covers the municipal network and will be used by public works and enforcement planning.
Photo enforcement and other technology: the board discussed mobile automated speed enforcement units and license‑plate‑reader (LPR) systems as possible tools; staff noted technical, legal and administrative requirements and said any deployment would be reviewed further.
Why this matters: a new bridge will change travel patterns for school children and other residents. Planners said a combination of physical traffic controls, targeted enforcement and education will be used to reduce crash and conflict risk as micromobility use grows.
Next steps: traffic counts and speed studies at priority intersections, expanded school‑year education with SROs, and follow‑up discussion of photo enforcement and mobile units with the traffic‑safety board.
