District approves application for speed‑sign grant near Wasatch Elementary and schedules May cleanup to meet match

Provo neighborhood leaders voted to move forward with an application for a $7,500 neighborhood matching grant to install permanent solar speed‑feedback signs near Wasatch Elementary and to pursue the volunteer service‑hour match required for the grant.

Rachel (neighborhood district staff) and staff presenting Vern Kiesler’s traffic work described the proposal and supporting traffic data. Citing a December speed and volume study, staff summarized Vern Kiesler’s findings: “0 crashes in 3 years. Posted speed limit is 25 miles per hour. The average is 29, but the 85% speed is 35.” The presentation noted higher extreme speeds were observed (40–55 mph) and low overall vehicle volumes on some local streets, indicating the issue is speed rather than heavy traffic volume.

Meeting participants discussed the best locations for sign placement. Board members and staff identified two priority locations for speed‑feedback signs: Briar Avenue and Locust Lane, both on routes used by students walking to Wasatch Elementary. Staff said the signs planned are solar powered and will record speed and volume data; the Lake Canyon sign was referenced as a model sign that collects data for city analysis.

Board members emphasized the program’s matching requirement: the typical neighborhood grant is $7,500 and the in‑kind match is calculated by service hours at an internal rate (staff said each service hour is valued at roughly $15, equating to about 500 service hours for a $7,500 grant). The board agreed it was short of the required volunteer hours and organized a visible public project — a State Street cleanup starting at Provo Elementary — to generate service hours and demonstrate neighborhood investment. Staff asked volunteers to mark availability and noted a target cleanup date of May 3.

After discussion, the board held an advisory vote in favor of pursuing the project and the grant application. Staff said the grant deadline is March 31 (application window) and recommended submitting the application immediately and adding further volunteer hours later if needed.

In related traffic work, Rachel summarized Vern Kiesler’s broader recommendations: post the speed data to the police department for enforcement consideration and deploy radar speed trailers as short‑term measures. Vern’s summary recommended enforcement and portable signs rather than permanent infrastructure changes such as new traffic signals.

The board also discussed timing of the district’s summer meeting and, after multiple floor counts and discussion, settled to hold the district’s summer meeting on August 12.

The neighborhood will continue to gather volunteer commitments and track service hours for the grant match; staff said data collected from the new signs would feed into future engineering or enforcement requests.