Currently the two-way vehicular traffic on Jerome and Fairbanks, along with large numbers of student drop-off and pick-up from both sides of the streets, allows a high number of students to cross the streets and potentially place them in an unsafe situation against vehicular traffic. The proposed switch to make Jerome and Fairbanks one-way streets will promote student pick-ups and drop-offs from the school-side of the street and greatly reduce the need to cross the streets and will limit student exposure to moving vehicles.
A public meeting was held at Garfield Elementary School on May 29th to present information on the upcoming Safe Routes to School safety project which will construct new concrete sidewalks and ADA ramps in the vicinity of Garfield along with the proposal to make Jerome and Fairbanks each one-way streets in the immediate vicinity of Garfield Elementary School. The week prior to the meeting a Public Service Announcement went out to the community. We also distributed over 550 flyers to all Garfield students, their families, teachers and Garfield Administrators. We also circulated 120 flyers door-to-door to all homes in the immediate vicinity of the one-way street proposal.
After presenting information at the public meeting about the upcoming Safe Routes to School Project and information about the one-way street proposal, staff also listened to responses from those families present. After discussing their comments, we ended up reducing the length of the proposed one-way segment on Jerome Avenue to reduce impacts to the residents west of Campbell Lane. |