STRATEGIC PRIORITY: Mobility Solutions, Infrastructure, and Sustainability
AGENDA DATE: September 22, 2021
COUNCIL DISTRICT(S): All
DEPARTMENT: Department of Transportation
EXECUTIVE: Majed Al-Ghafry
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SUBJECT
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A resolution adopting the School Traffic Safety Guide as a comprehensive policy guide for school-related traffic policies, practices, and procedures that impact the planning, design, construction, and operation of streets - Financing: No cost consideration to the City
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BACKGROUND
In 1975, the now defunct Council-appointed Citizen Safety Advisory Committee was created. The Committee primarily focused on matters concerning the protection of children from safety hazards, including matters relating to the staffing and training of school crossing guards, the provision of school sidewalks and other school-child safety issues.
Aided in work by City staff from multiple departments, the Committee adopted the School Safety Manual in 1980, a document consisting of a compilation of policies and practices patterned after the nationally accepted standards in the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) and the State of Texas standards as presented in the Texas Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways (TMUTCD), to serve as a guideline for school safety in the City of Dallas. The policies and practices at that time were proven effective in addressing key Dallas' school traffic safety challenges.
After the Committee was discontinued, internal processes to enhance traffic safety for school children were created to build upon the duties once held by the Committee. However, responsibilities remain distributed across multiple City departments whose roles have shifted and evolved over the years. This has resulted in a need to improve internal and external coordination to promote the safety of students as they travel to and from school.
This guide will be a ma...
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