Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Safety devices planned for school streets
Work to begin this summer
FAYETTEVILLE — Just because a crosswalk is painted on the ground doesn’t mean cars will stop. It’ll be pretty hard to miss the flashing lights and signs coming to some schools.
Streets near Butterfield, Holcomb, Washington and Owl Creek schools are getting an upgrade. Work is set to begin this summer and continue through the year.
Work includes new crosswalks, flashing beacons to alert drivers to the crosswalks, curb extensions and medians. Some of the improvements coincide with other projects already on the city’s work program.
The Transportation Committee, comprising half the City Council members, reviewed initial drawings of the plans last week.
“They’re not fully baked concepts,” said Chris Brown, city engineer. “There are a couple things that may end up changing a little bit.”
Parents and school staff members requested the measures, Brown said. He estimated cost of all the projects about $50,000. The money will come from the city’s Transportation Bond Fund, which contains about $500,000, he said.
Schools Superintendent John L Colbert said schools and the city have worked for many years to develop plans for sidewalks and crosswalks to improve safety. The partnership is strong, he said, with a united focus to better serve communities’ students,
parents and patrons.
“Neighborhood schools are an important part of our district and community,” Colbert said. “We look forward to working with the city on new ideas and plans to make Fayetteville even safer and more walkable.”
No major incidents or injuries have happened at school crosswalks within the past few years, according to a police spokesman. Brown said it’s better to not wait until something happens.
Butterfield will get two lights at either side of Old Missouri Road near Eton Street at the entrance of the school. The lights, called rectangular rapid flashing beacons, have been ordered and should be installed in September, Brown said.
Brooke Vickery, vice president of the school’s Parent Teacher Organization with three children of her own, said at least 100 students cross at Eton every school day.
“The crosswalks and signage there at Eton has been a goal for us for the last year or two,” she said. “We are thrilled to finally see it come to fruition.”
As a separate project, the city will install a traffic signal a block away at Old Missouri Road and Rolling Hills Drive in time for the fall semester. The signal came up during public discussions of a rezoning and proposed street connection at the wooded acreage near the intersection, which the City Council approved in May.
Both projects add up to a bigger picture to improve student safety, Vickery said.
New ramps, beacons and a crosswalk will go in on Rupple Road near Mountain View Drive at Owl Creek. A median also is planned to serve as a pedestrian refuge while crossing the street. The project should finish at the end of the year, in time for the spring semester.
The curbs on the west side of the intersection of Lafayette Street and Highlands Avenue near Washington Elementary School will extend out a few feet to shorten the distance of the crosswalk, which will have beacons. The northern lane of Lafayette at the east side of the intersection will taper to encourage drivers to slow down as they approach. That work also should finish in time for the spring semester.
An elevated crosswalk is planned for Salem Road at Holcomb’s entrance near Bentgrass Road, and a beacon will go in at the crosswalk near Crystal Drive. A crosswalk leading to Gary Hampton field will be removed. Drivers tend to go faster in that area, as opposed to the school entrance, Brown said.
The crosswalks will be made of brick thermoplastic, and crews will repave Salem Road, said Terry Gulley, transportation services director.
“It ought to just jump off the street,” he said.
Other work on Salem Road and Crystal Drive near Holcomb, such as reducing the width of driving lanes, adding parking and improving sight distance by keeping vehicles from stopping in certain sections, serves as part of a separate project to help traffic flow smoothly, Brown said. Work has begun and should wrap about mid-September.
Council Member Kyle Smith, who represents Ward 4, said the neighborhood streets near Holcomb weren’t necessarily built to handle the traffic the school brings. He welcomed the planned improvement.
“We can’t avoid putting schools in high-traffic locations,” Smith said. “They’re destinations for hundreds of people every day, so they will create their own traffic wherever they go.”