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Residents urge quick fixes at Mill/Main crosswalk after two collisions; council hears calls for low-cost safety measures
Summary
Business owners and residents pressed the council to prioritize pedestrian safety at the Mill and Main crosswalk, citing two recent collisions (one involving a child and another a disabled veteran who later died). Speakers requested temporary, low-cost measures such as repainting the crosswalk and installing bike racks to slow vehicle movements while a longer-term redesign proceeds.
Several Grass Valley residents used the March 10 public-comment period to press the City Council for immediate steps to protect pedestrians at the Mill and Main intersection, where they said two people were struck in the same crosswalk in the last two years.
Emily Rangel, a business owner at 201 West Main Street and a volunteer board member for the Grass Valley Downtown Association, said the two collisions — she identified one as involving a young girl and another involving a disabled veteran who later died — have convinced local merchants and residents that temporary measures are warranted while a permanent redesign (phase three) remains years away.
"I ask council to consider temporary cost-effective alternatives such as painting over the lower crosswalk and placing bike racks to block where the entrance and exit currently are," Rangel said. She argued such steps would be practical, low-cost and quickly implemented to reduce the chance of further tragedies.
Speakers during public comment also raised broader public-safety concerns about youth behavior downtown and urged sustained police and city attention to violence and disorder in public spaces. Several speakers recounted personal incidents and asked the council to respond with policy or operational changes.
Council staff and legal counsel clarified that policy decisions made by the council remain in effect through staff changes; staff emphasized the council sets policy and staff implements it. The council approved the consent calendar later in the meeting, and no immediate vote on crosswalk changes was recorded during the March 10 session.
Next steps: The transcript records residents’ requests and staff’s reminder about the council’s policy authority; council or staff follow-up on specific temporary traffic-control measures was not recorded in the meeting transcript and may be taken up in future agenda items or administrative action.
