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Denton staff to expand school bike-bus support, evaluate pedestrian gates at rail crossings and implement crosswalk improvements
Summary
City traffic staff described a voluntary 'growing bike-bus' program at local schools, plans to add a dedicated pedestrian gate at a future Brush Creek rail crossing, and near-term pedestrian improvements including a completed pedestrian signal upgrade at Malone and U.S. 380 and a planned visibility change at Ned Schultz Elementary.
City traffic staff briefed the Denton City Mobility Committee on multiple school- and pedestrian-focused items on June 25, including the voluntary “growing bike-bus” program, a railroad pedestrian gate under review for a future Brush Creek crossing, and several near-term crossing and visibility improvements.
Chandra, the city traffic engineer, told the committee the growing bike-bus program is parent-initiated and voluntary; staff can assist routes and enhance safety features when schools request help. “It’s a voluntary effort from the parent and PTAs, and staff can assist … and we can enhance any safety issues,” Chandra said. Staff plans to follow up with Rivera Elementary School and Alexandria Elementary School in the fall to see if they want to pursue bike-bus routes and can support route planning and safety enhancements if the schools ask for assistance.
Committee members asked staff to incorporate outreach to business operators where relevant and to compare practices from similarly sized cities where useful. Staff said they will be careful selecting comparison cities and will avoid direct comparisons to much larger bike‑oriented cities such as Seattle.
On railroad crossings, Chandra reported that a consultant at the design phase can incorporate a separate pedestrian gate at the planned Brush Creek crossing at U.S. 377 but that the project requires more right-of-way width for gate arms and a lengthy review with Union Pacific Railroad. “I would optimistically envision 2027, 28,” Chandra said when asked about a project timeline.
On school crossing improvements, staff said they are working with operations to remove a parking space at the Neal (Ned) Schultz Elementary School intersection so an existing crossing will be more visible to both pedestrians and drivers. Operations staff are expected to implement that change before school opens in the fall. Chandra said the change would be implemented as operations staff can schedule it.
Committee members also heard that traffic operations completed a pedestrian signal isolation upgrade at Malone at U.S. 380; staff said the upgrade makes pedestrian push-button activations and countdown signals easier to see from the crosswalk and that the improvement was completed the day before the meeting. “It’s a huge improvement, and it’s already completed as of yesterday,” Chandra said.
During the future‑topics discussion, committee members asked staff for additional briefings on local parking changes near Evers Parkway (near Evers Elementary), the status and timing of the citywide parking study, and pedestrian route plans for families expected to walk to the new Reeves Elementary School. Staff said the parking study is still being finalized and that they will provide details on Evers Parkway and pedestrian routing for Reeves prior to the start of the school year where feasible.
Ending — Items to watch: staff follow-up with the two schools for growing bike-bus requests; schedule and right-of-way work with Union Pacific for the Brush Creek pedestrian gate; operations implementation of visibility improvements at Ned Schultz Elementary; staff provision of information on Evers Parkway parking and Reeves Elementary walking plans.
