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Council highlights safe‑routes projects, crosswalks and e‑bike legal questions ahead of fall semester
Summary
Council members detailed sidewalk, crosswalk and traffic investments, asked for quick fixes (temporary sidewalks, radar speed signs) and raised e‑bike registration and legal issues for students commuting to school; police noted state‑level ambiguity on e‑bike rules.
City council members and school trustees reviewed safe‑routes investments, pending street projects and neighborhood priorities for the coming school year and discussed electric‑bike use by students on city streets.
Council member Esparza and others listed recent district and city investments, including roughly $100,000 allocations to repaint crosswalks in District 7 and other neighborhood repaving and sidewalk installations; an upcoming $131 million street maintenance and traffic signal program was cited as citywide infrastructure that will affect routes to school. Council members described targeted near‑term funds routed to safe routes projects, and one council member said the administration plans to focus initial Southeast Development Area planning on the southern portion of the designated area.
Trustees and council members described quick, locally deployable safety measures: higher‑visibility crosswalks, median barriers that channel pedestrians to safe crossing points, radar speed signs, and temporary sidewalks near new campuses. Examples included a planned temporary sidewalk by Church and Armstrong to serve two new Sanger campuses and radar speed signs and crosswalk upgrades near Mountain View and other elementary sites.
Members raised e‑bike concerns for student travel. Council member Richardson suggested exploring a local registration or tracking approach so families could recover impounded e‑bikes and promote accountability. Fresno PD said vehicle‑code and liability issues make local registration legally challenging because many e‑bikes are not lawful to operate on streets under current state rules; police said the issue is under discussion at the state level and recommended legal review before any local program is created. The chief agreed to consult legal counsel and traffic staff on feasible options.
Council members asked staff to prioritize high‑impact crossings and to coordinate with districts on walk‑to‑school corridors so pavement, signals and temporary fixes match school calendars and new campus openings.
