Council approves temporary crossing guard, new speed signs and crosswalk after traffic-safety review

The Bountiful City Council on Jan. 28 unanimously approved three recommendations from the Traffic Safety Committee aimed at improving student and pedestrian safety near Bountiful Elementary and in nearby neighborhoods.

The committee recommended — and the council approved — a temporary crossing guard at 50 West and 1600 South through the end of the school year, new speed-limit signs on 750 East, and a marked pedestrian crosswalk on the north side of 100 North near 400 East to better connect a bus stop to the Bountiful Food Pantry.

City Engineer Lloyd Cheney told the council the Traffic Safety Committee spent roughly five hours across two meetings reviewing requests and data. Cheney said the crossing-guard request grew from parent concerns about students crossing 50 West at 1600 South and that the city and district agreed to develop an updated routing plan for the new elementary school. "It was recommended by the committee that the council approve a temporary crossing guard through the end of the school year with the expectation that the school would submit an updated plan for the new circulatory pattern," Cheney said.

Cheney said three crossing guards already cover nearby legs of intersections and that the new position would be temporary because routing and pickup patterns are evolving with school construction. He noted the volunteer crossing program had resumed but that the school struggled to fully staff volunteer shifts.

On the speed-sign request for 750 East (a low-volume street the report described as "less than 400 cars a day"), Cheney said the committee recommended speed-limit signs in two locations close to Mill Street and 5th South. He cautioned that signs have short-term effectiveness but said the committee approved them to respond to resident concerns.

The crosswalk request originated from a volunteer who uses transit to reach the Bountiful Food Pantry; committee members recommended relocating a proposed crossing from 150 North to 100 North because of better visibility and an existing street light there.

Councilwoman Price Huish made the motion to approve all three recommendations together; the motion was seconded and carried unanimously. Police Chief (on-record as the department’s crossing-guard supervisor) told the council staff had already begun recruiting for the temporary crossing-guard position and expected to onboard a candidate quickly.

Why it matters: the items respond to immediate safety concerns for schoolchildren and transit-dependent residents while the city and school district work on longer-term circulation plans for a new elementary facility. Council members flagged broader issues — including coordination between city and school district plans, state-level school-campus security legislation, and the effects of nearby high-school construction on neighborhood parking — as items for future attention.

What’s next: the council directed staff to work with the school district on updated routing plans for the new elementary, and the temporary crossing guard will remain funded through the end of the current school year unless the council later amends the action.

Votes at a glance: - Temporary crossing guard at 50 West and 1600 South (through end of school year): motion by Councilwoman Price Huish; seconded; outcome: approved unanimously. - Speed-limit signs on 750 East (two locations): motion included in same consolidated motion; outcome: approved unanimously. - Pedestrian crosswalk at north side of 100 North and 400 East: motion included in same consolidated motion; outcome: approved unanimously.

The council thanked members of the Traffic Safety Committee and parents who participated in the meetings.