Keizer committee rejects immediate crossing-guard request, orders staff study of safety options at 14th & Mandarin

At the June 18 meeting the Keizer Multimodal Safety Committee considered two related motions about the intersection of 14th and Mandarin, a location residents had raised repeatedly for safety concerns.

A committee member moved that the committee recommend the city ask the Salem-Keizer School District to add a crossing guard at the intersection. After discussion, several members called the motion premature without staff study or engagement with the district. The motion failed; during the roll-call exchange the transcript records that David and Trevor voted in favor but that the motion did not secure enough support to pass.

Committee members pressed for a data-driven alternative; one member said the proposal should be accompanied by conversation with the school district and better information. Director Guevara and others suggested staff research alternatives before the committee makes a formal recommendation to the council or the school district. A substitute motion — to have staff investigate options (crossing guard, lighted/pedestrian crossing, temporary measures) for improving safety at 14th & Mandarin and report back — passed unanimously.

Chair de Blasio said the committee's role is advisory and that staff findings would inform any council recommendation or district request. The committee discussion emphasized the need for pragmatic options given school-district budget constraints and the potential cost of some devices.

Next steps: staff will examine feasible alternatives and cost estimates and return to the committee and then to the joint council work session scheduled for late July. The committee also urged residents to attend the council work session to support prioritized actions.