Residents press West Chester to paint crosswalk at Chestnut & New; councilors explain public‑works process

Resident Lisa Kearns raised a follow‑up about a months‑old safety request to paint a crosswalk at Chestnut and New (near Veterans Memorial Park) and to evaluate pedestrian signage on Washington Street. Kearns said she had been told the item was forwarded between council and public works without resolution and asked for clarity on how such requests get handled.

Council and public‑works representatives described the borough’s process: routine maintenance and paint work should be entered into the public‑works work‑order system, which queues tasks for the department’s crews; requests that require engineering study, new traffic control devices or work on state‑owned roads may require a higher‑cost study, PennDOT approval, or grant funding and are prioritized through the transportation advisory committee and the capital plan. Bernie Flynn, chair of public works and a council member, said crews and equipment availability (for example, a recently repaired line‑striping machine) can cause delays and that the borough will check whether the crosswalk request made it into the official system.

Committee members and some residents suggested periodic reporting from public works on open resident requests so the public can track progress. Flynn and staff said the borough can use its work‑order system to record complainant contact information and to provide case status; they agreed to follow up on whether the crosswalk work order exists and to report back to the resident in a future meeting.