City outlines reasoning for new school zone speed limit

SANDPOINT — While John Wilson isn’t necessarily against lower speed limits in school zones, he does feel the city has been transparent about the process it used to make the decision.

The county resident critiqued the city’s process on how they reached the decision on the importance of the speed limit reduction. Wilson disputed whether the lower speed limit was among the most important cited in a road safety audit. Wilson spoke during the public comment at the Sept. 15 council meeting, saying the city is making decisions off the cuff when it comes to road updates.

“Whoever is making decisions has a history of not following the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices and just throws different things out there hoping it works,” said Wilson.

These changes were accompanied by an official press release that stated the speed limit change was a “key recommendation that came out of a safety audit” and that “a 10 mph reduction in speed is the engineering standard for school zones,” said Wilson quoting from the document.

At the Feb. 3 council meeting, Preston Stinger, the city’s engineering consultant with Fehr and Peers, presented the findings of Sandpoint’s Road Safety Audit for Division Avenue. The findings revealed hazards and safety concerns and categorized them from short-term, medium-term and long-term mitigations.

When doing a RSA, Stinger said Fehr and Peers does not use data collected to analytically say which projects or improvements need to be completed. Instead they look at the road corridor systematically.

The press release issued by the city noted the reduced speed limit in school zones was a key recommendation from the audit of the Division Avenue corridor as part of the city’s multimodal transportation plan.

“The audit noted that the 10 mph reduction in speed is the engineering standard for school zones,” said City Administrator Jennifer Stapleton in the city’s press release.

Stapleton told the Daily Bee that the speed limit change was not chosen over other mitigations mentioned in the audit. Instead, it was discussed by the Division safety audit team. This team included city and community representatives.

“We have not heard concerns about the reduced speed limit from many citizens. It is one person’s perspective,” said Stapleton. “The perspective has been heard and considered, and the decision to keep the 15 mph reduced speed is based on keeping the safety of the children as the top priority.”

As part of its strategy in addressing the overall safety concerns, Stapleton said the city will focus on short term mitigations first. Those concerns include non-ADA compliant ramps in intersections, electrical poles blocking visibility for cars turning on Division, poor lighting at night, lack of bus stop amenities and updating the traffic lanes to better service pedestrians and cyclists at a later date.

In the February meeting, Public Works Director Amanda Wilson said the city will have to get truck traffic off Division and onto Baldy Mountain Road in order to implement long-term plans.

The new 15 mph signs will have flashing lights above them when the change in speed limit is in effect, said Stapleton. Public safety has noted that compliance was low when the speed limit was set at 15 mph at all times.

The speed limit will stay at 20 mph when the flashing lights are not on, said Stapleton. If vehicles still travel at higher speeds then reducing the speed limit to 15 mph will be considered.

Additional recommendations of the audit was a “walking school bus,” which entails parents or teachers walking young students together in a group from school and home. This is out of the city’s jurisdiction and would require schools to implement.

While Farmin-Stidwell Elementary and Sandpoint Waldorf staff weren’t familiar with the city’s audit or its recommendations, they liked what they heard about its aim to improve student safety.

Enrollment at Sandpoint Waldorf is up by 58 students this year. While a few students walk to and from school, some older students bike to school with a friend. Parents tend to drop kids off at Travers Park and have students walk across the street to school.

Farmin-Stidwell Elementary School Principal Elizabeth “Betsy” Dalessio said that it is rare for students to take the bus. About 50% of students are picked up and dropped off at school and about the other 50% of students walk or bike to school.

Dalessio has done crossing guard duty and has noted that many drivers are distracted or unaware they have entered a school zone.

“Even with the flashing lights, some people don’t notice. I’ve had to really use the sign to get drivers attention,” said Dalessio.

More driver awareness is needed during school closure and opening, said Dalessio. Students at Farmin-Stidwell already walk in groups to and from school, but once they meet Division Avenue they split into four different directions.

Kindergarteners are required to walk with an older sibling or a group of older kids. While she hadn’t heard of the walking school bus approach, Dalessio said it is something she is interested in.

The audit also addresses the need for an afternoon crossing guard at Sandpoint High School and Sandpoint Middle School. This suggestion again would have to be taken up with the schools.

Stapleton said to mitigate vegetation blocking the view and sidewalks for pedestrians and cyclists, the city is working with homeowners on Division to trim back vegetation. The city will do this along with the smaller mitigations presented by Fehr and Peers before diving into new projects at this time.

In the future, she said the city will perform a lighting inventory and a reconfiguration of the road to better reflect the city’s recently adopted multi-model plan.

Public safety has seen a significant reduction in speed on Division, which improves youth safety, said Stapleton. Pedestrian traffic on Division has been more prevalent during COVID-19 as classes have been using the multi-modal paths more.

In coming months city officials said staff will be drafting a policy and procedure for council consideration that will allow residents to request a speed calming analysis in their neighborhood.