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Consultants recommend chicanes, narrower lanes and upgraded crossings for Mesquite downtown
Summary
A Kimley Horn study presented to Mesquite council recommends lane‑narrowing, chicanes, vertical delineators, curb bump‑outs and upgraded pedestrian signals to reduce speeding and improve safety on Main and Davis streets; council signaled support and discussed grant funding for high‑priority crossings near schools.
City consultants from Kimley Horn presented their downtown traffic‑calming study and recommended a package of near‑term, low‑cost striping and delineation changes plus longer‑term improvements such as chicanes and pedestrian hybrid beacons.
Eric Gault, the city’s public‑works director, introduced Abby Axelson and Rachel Ellis of Kimley Horn; Axelson said the study focused on Main and Davis streets, pedestrian activity and crash history. Rachel Ellis described vehicle speeds and heavy‑vehicle patterns: posted speeds drop from 45 to 30 mph through downtown, but 85th‑percentile volumes show many vehicles traveling 32–53 mph, with an observed 53 mph spike on Davis near the high school. Ellis said heavy vehicles account for about 8–10% of traffic during peak hours.
Consultants recommended slowing drivers through visual and physical measures: reduce lane widths, re‑stripe lanes to compress travel lanes and expand onstreet parking, add vertical delineators and rumble strips at downtown approaches, install curb bump‑outs at crash‑prone intersections, and upgrade pedestrian crossings with overhead beacons that legally require vehicles to stop. Abby Axelson noted some crossings with low compliance for flashing yellow beacons and recommended the overhead red signal variant where the law requires vehicles to stop.
The plan would increase onstreet parking from about 25 spaces to 41 through striping changes, add pedestrian signals at critical crossings and propose alternative truck routes around downtown that require coordination with TxDOT and neighboring Sunnyvale. Council members pressed staff on a high‑priority mid‑block crossing used by high‑school students; Councilman Smith (speaker 11) emphasized the urgency of a safer crossing near City Lake Park and the high school.
Gault and the consultants described an implementation approach that starts with “low‑hanging fruit” (striping and delineators) that city crews can deliver quickly and uses grant funding (Highway Safety Improvement Program) to pay for costly items like pedestrian hybrid beacons. The consultants expect a draft report to be returned to the city for comment and a final product by the holidays.
What’s next: city staff will refine recommended routes for truck rerouting, identify priority crossings near schools for grant applications, and return to council with implementation steps and funding options.
