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Board directs staff to lead e-vehicle education effort, appoints Director Heiser as liaison
Summary
After public comment and staff updates on the Respect the Path campaign, the board directed staff to research crash and trip data, explore rumble devices at five intersections, keep a continuing agenda item, and appointed Director Cindy Heiser as the board liaison for the e-vehicle education effort.
The Woodlands Township Board of Directors on Sept. 18 directed staff to advance an e-vehicle education program and appointed Director Cindy Heiser as the board liaison to coordinate the work.
Karen Dempsey, the township’s chief administrative officer, reviewed the "Respect the Path" public-education campaign and said staff will evaluate engagement analytics, conduct focus groups and coordinate with fire, rangers and school partners on pathway safety. "We do have social media, reels, articles in the magazine...we are hitting that from kind of a multi-disciplinary approach," Dempsey said.
Director Cindy Heiser urged the board to compile crash and hospital data, saying it would be useful to know whether emergency-room and admission records are coded for e-bike and e-scooter incidents and to map high-conflict roadway segments. She said trip counts, route data and rider behavior observations would help target education or infrastructure changes.
Public commenter Tom Lanthorne, a school crossing guard, asked the board to approve installation of cobblestones or rumblers at five intersections and said residents report little enforcement of motor vehicles on sidewalks. "I'm disappointed in with the extent of the board's response to electric micro mobility vehicles," Lanthorne said, and he asked for the rumblers at five intersections to be evaluated.
Board members directed staff to research costs and pros/cons for rumblers at the identified intersections, requested that Montgomery County EMS and trauma centers be consulted for incident data, and made the e-vehicle education topic a continuing agenda item. Chairman Brad Bailey moved to appoint Cindy Heiser as the board liaison; the motion was seconded and carried.
Next steps: staff will compile crash and trip data (including outreach to county EMS and area hospitals), prepare cost estimates for rumble devices at five intersections, and return with recommendations to the board.
