Durham advances school-area safety: crossing‑guard pilot, bike-and-walk plan and transit tweaks

City, county and Durham Public Schools transportation staff reported coordinated steps on Aug. 12 to improve walking, biking and transit access to schools, including a short‑term crossing‑guard pilot, the start of a second public engagement round on a joint bike-and-walk plan, and scheduled adjustments to public transit routes that affect high-school connections.

Kristen Brookshire, transportation planner for Durham Public Schools, said the district has collaborated with the city and county on a range of school‑area safety measures, including nine recently installed crosswalk flashing beacons at elementary-school locations and a Safe Routes to School education program that produced walking-maps for 21 elementary schools. Brookshire said a crossing‑guard pilot is about to begin this fall after a kickoff meeting with a contractor.

City Transportation Director Sean Egan said the city has a new crossing-guard contract and is working to staff four new crossing-guard locations at Hope Valley Elementary, C.C. Spalding Elementary, Sandy Ridge Elementary and Y.E. Smith Elementary, with positions expected to be staffed by the end of the month. Egan said, “We have a new contract. The contractor is hiring and training staff right now, and we're working to get staff, at 4 new sites.”

Near-term transit changes: Egan said GoDurham Route 5 will change on Aug. 23 to offer improved connections for Jordan High School and that the city is working to increase Southern High School’s bus service from hourly service to every 30 minutes by the end of the calendar year.

Bike-and-walk planning: Ellen Beckman of Durham County presented a status update on a joint city‑county bike and walk plan. Beckman said the study will publish a draft list of 50 corridors, 50 sidewalk gaps and 50 intersections for public feedback in mid‑September; that list will be narrowed to 25 items in each category for the final plan. She described recurring school-area concerns, including issues at Jordan, Hillside, Northern, Riverside, Southern, Hope Valley Elementary and Forest View Elementary, and noted the county’s involvement is intended to clarify maintenance and funding responsibilities for sidewalks that cross city–county boundaries.

Rail-trail planning: Beckman also said a Durham-to‑Roxboro rail‑trail study is underway to examine conversion of an 18‑mile unused rail corridor into a greenway connecting northern Durham schools and communities; the study’s second public engagement round was set to begin during the weeks after the meeting.

Safe Routes and school materials: Brookshire said DPS will distribute physical transit guides and walking-route materials to schools for open house events, provide planning materials for principals linking Safe Routes to school curricula, and continue to offer transit‑planning support and student engagement opportunities.

Next steps and evaluation: Staff said the crossing‑guard pilot’s evaluation will examine recruitment, retention and compensation to ensure sustainable coverage, and that lessons learned will inform a unified plan among the city, county, police and DPS. Beckman said the bike‑and‑walk plan will produce policy recommendations including a project‑delivery study to speed construction of sidewalk and crossing projects.

Ending: Transportation staff agreed to provide written materials and timelines from the bike‑and‑walk plan and transit changes to all elected officials and to coordinate future briefings. City and county officials encouraged public engagement on draft corridor and gap lists when the fall outreach begins.