City staff and their consultant presented the final Comprehensive Safety Action Plan — a Vision Zero‑oriented study that catalogs crash history, public feedback and recommended countermeasures for DeSoto’s high‑injury streets.

The consultant, Brian Schamberger of Kimley‑Horn, told council the outreach and online engagement produced 638 page views, 356 visits, 356 visitors and 115 contributions from 68 contributors. "We had 638 views, across 503 visits. We had 356 visitors. And from 68 contributors, they actually provided 115 contributions," Schamberger said during the presentation.

Nut graf: The plan identifies corridor‑level countermeasures (engineering, evaluation, enforcement, education, equity and encouragement) and pinpoints four corridors with the highest concentration of serious crashes: West Belt Line (Duncanville to Cockrell Hill), East Belt Line (Hampton Road to Polk Street), East Pleasant Run (Hampton to Chaddie) and North Hampton (Wintergreen to Center Park). Staff said the study produced short‑, medium‑ and long‑term actions and a toolbox of treatments the city can deploy.

Key findings and recommendations

- Engagement and priorities: Roughly 70% of responders live in DeSoto; the public flagged speeding, intersection safety and poor pavement or lighting as top concerns. Respondents strongly supported investments to make walking and biking safer.

- Corridor recommendations: Schamberger highlighted targeted intersection work (left‑turn offsets, improved signal operations, reflective backplates), corridor lighting upgrades and filling sidewalk gaps. For West Belt Line the team recommended speed‑feedback signs, edge striping and pedestrian ADA upgrades at some intersections; for East Belt Line they recommended raised medians and driveway consolidation in places with many conflict points.

- Speeding and driver behavior: The plan groups actions into the ‘‘6 E’s’’ (engineering, education, enforcement, evaluation, equity, encouragement). Recommended near‑term actions include seat‑belt and driver‑education outreach, city‑employee safe‑driver initiatives and low‑cost engineering improvements that can be applied systemically.

Next steps and timeline

- Staff told council they will return on Jan. 21 seeking a resolution adopting a Vision Zero policy. The consultant explained the draft plan will also support applications for implementation funding; staff noted a Jan. 30 deadline referenced in the presentation for deposit of final reports and the NCTCOG funding cycles described in public comments.

- The consultant noted a projected schedule for grant processes and design: applications and scoring in early 2025, regional approvals in spring 2025 and bid openings for funded projects required by Aug. 31, 2028, under the federal‑funding schedule discussed with TxDOT and NCTCOG.

What council asked: Members pressed for clarity on enforcement data (citations issued for speeding), the role of education (including court‑ordered driver‑safety courses), and how low‑cost treatments (striping, reflective signal backplates) perform relative to physical changes. Staff committed to returning with prioritization, a glossary of technical terms and a plan for outreach to faith‑based groups and HOAs to support education efforts.