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Neighborhood groups press Keizer committee for safer school crossings after near-misses and a hit-and-run fatality
Summary
Greater Northeast Keizer Neighborhood Association presented neighborhood traffic management plans and evidence of repeated near-misses involving school crossing guards; a committee member reported a recent hit-and-run pedestrian fatality on a local trail and members asked the school district and Safe Routes to School contacts for incident data.
Representatives of the Greater Northeast Keizer Neighborhood Association urged the Traffic Safety Bikeways Pedestrian Committee on Sept. 18 to act on neighborhood traffic management plans and safety concerns near schools, reporting near-misses involving school crossing guards and asking for closer coordination with the Salem-Keizer School District and Safe Routes to School resources.
Jack Green, speaking for the Greater Northeast Keizer Neighborhood Association, said the neighborhood has worked on traffic concerns since 2022 and submitted three neighborhood traffic management plans. "We have been working on traffic concerns since 2022, and I have your original spreadsheet," Green told the committee, noting work with Kennedy Elementary crossing guards and submitted letters describing near-miss incidents.
During committee reports, a committee member, David, reported a recent hit-and-run pedestrian fatality on Trail just south of Harmony. "I wasn't able to turn on to Trail from Lock Haven. I found out today the reason was a pedestrian was in a hit and run and killed," the committee member said. He described sidewalk gaps in the corridor and narrow shoulders that leave pedestrians vulnerable.
Councilor Star, speaking from the dais, clarified that crossing guards are provided through the Salem-Keizer School District and that principals are the first-line reporters of incidents. Committee members recommended seeking district incident reports and connecting with Beth Schmidt (Safe Routes to School) to obtain aggregated data and determine whether recurring safety problems exist around specific schools.
The committee asked neighborhood groups to resubmit updated neighborhood traffic management plans with any needed clarifications so staff can re-evaluate them against NTMP criteria. Staff indicated some previously submitted NTMPs did not meet criteria for inclusion in the packet and that legal/staff review is ongoing. The committee recommended staff coordinate with the school district risk-management office and Safe Routes to School contacts to collect incident and near-miss data as part of any follow-up.
Neighborhood representatives said they would provide copies of letters and crossing-guard reports to staff and requested more active partnership between the committee, Public Works, police and the school district to address repeated dangerous locations.
