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City and county outline school-area safety steps: crossing-guard pilot, new school zones and bike/walk plan engagement
Summary
Transportation staff said city, county and DPS recently added crosswalk beacons at nine elementary schools, will expand a school zone with flashers at Hope Valley Elementary, are piloting crossing guards at four sites by month-end, and will publish a second-round public engagement mid-September on the joint bike-and-walk plan and the Durham-to-Roxborough Trail.
City and county transportation staff and Durham Public Schools updated the joint meeting on short- and long-term measures to improve safety and transit access for students.
Sean Egan, the city transportation director, said the city installed posts with reflectors and will implement a school zone with reduced speed limits and activated flashers on University Drive around Hope Valley Elementary; the flashers were expected to be installed "weather permitting" within days of the meeting. He said the city refreshed pavement markings and will add high-visibility ladder crosswalks at key intersections in the zone.
Egan also said the city has a new contractor for school crossing guards and that the contractor is hiring and training staff now to staff four new sites (Hope Valley, CC Spalding, Sandy Ridge and YE Smith) with positions expected to be filled by the end of the month. "The contractor is hiring and training staff right now, and we're working to get staff at 4 new sites," Egan said.
On transit, Egan said GoDurham Route 5 will change on Aug. 23 to provide 15-minute frequencies that better serve Jordan High School; the city is also working to increase service frequency at Southern High School from once an hour to once every 30 minutes by the end of the calendar year.
Kristen Brookshire, DPS transportation planner, said the district is participating in short-term and long-term safety efforts including crossing-guard pilots and a Safe Routes to School program. She noted a kickoff meeting for a pilot crossing-guard contract was scheduled within an hour of the joint meeting.
Ellen Beckman, representing Durham County, described the joint bike-and-walk planning process now entering its second public-engagement round (mid-September). The draft engagement will present 50 corridors, 50 sidewalk gaps and 50 intersections to the public before narrowing those lists to a final set of 25 each. Beckman said the county's first full participation in the bike-and-walk plan is intended to address ambiguous maintenance responsibility on city/county boundary sidewalks and to identify near-term priority projects, including school-area walk/bike corridors.
