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Highway Safety Committee to poll members on meeting time; chief flags recurring intersection and school-traffic concerns
Summary
Committee members discussed shifting their regular meeting start to later in the morning and reviewed recurring 2025 safety priorities — New Boston Road intersections, school traffic congestion, a Hawthorne crosswalk near a bus stop — and agreed to follow up with staff and school officials.
The Highway Safety Committee discussed administrative and recurring safety matters at its Jan. 27 meeting, including a proposed change to meeting time and a review of intersection and pedestrian issues likely to return to the committee this year.
Chief Dan DeWitty proposed moving the regular meeting time later — keeping Tuesdays as the meeting day but considering a 9:00 a.m. start — and asked staff to poll absent resident members for availability; members agreed to revisit the change at the next meeting. Councilor Kayla Beck and other resident members said middle- or late-morning start times would be acceptable for many attendees, though some members suggested 8:00 a.m. might be preferable for those with work conflicts.
DeWitty also reviewed several safety matters stemming from 2025 that the committee may continue to address: intersections along New Boston Road (McAllister, Joppa and Pastor), pedestrian and bus-stop crosswalk conflicts in Hawthorne, and ongoing school traffic congestion at arrival and dismissal times. He described prior multi-agency site visits — including state officials — and suggested future conversations with school administrators to consider parking or circulation changes.
Public Works said it would follow up on prior nonpublic discussions about cul-de-sac turning radii and will engage council members and residents when needed. Members also praised highway crew efforts after extended storm work and noted sidewalk requests tied to school projects may return as residents develop proposals. The committee adjourned after routine housekeeping and a unanimous vote on the meeting’s motion list.
