West Perth has approved having a study done on pedestrian safety.
Clerk Daniel Hobson says the goal is to examine downtown Mitchell and the areas near the schools.
“We really want an expert to come in and look to just make sure that we’re doing everything we’re supposed to do, first off, but then we wanna know, how can we exceed the minimum standards that are required down there,” Hobson explained.
Hobson adds the pedestrian safety plan hasn’t been updated in awhile, and they want to ensure they are doing as much as possible to keep people safe. He says the study should take roughly 6-8 weeks.
“We suspect there may be an increase or addition of signage, new signage, things like that. Obviously we’re also looking at Frances Street, as well, because our high school is there and Upper Thames Elementary is there, so we get a lot of foot traffic there,” Hobson said. “We figure while the experts are here, we’ll just make sure everything on that road is good and we’re using the latest and greatest, because we’ve got an additional crosswalk, an automated crosswalk, at Henry Street now at the new bridge, and we’re getting a lot of positive feedback on that. Those are quite attainable now compared to ten years ago.”
Any major projects or recommendations from the study won’t be budgeted until next year, Hobson notes. He says they just want to make sure they’re making drivers as aware as possible, too.
“Looking at different ways just to get vehicles to slow down, especially when they’re driving through our downtown, and notice that there’s a crossing there, is probably our biggest priority right now,” Hobson added. “We’ve already discussed maybe addressing the turning lanes onto the main highway, I don’t know if it’s feasible or not, but even maybe removing one of the parking spots at the corner for a better line of sight, those are just some of the things that we’ve thought of before getting this study done.”
Up to $11,000 has been approved to pay for the study, which will come from reserves.
