The District of Houston council has approved an additional crosswalk project this year which will make crossing Mountainview Drive much safer.
Following a proposal by District engineering and operations director Paul Gordon submitted in July and after consideration, council members gave their blessing Aug. 6 to the project which will eliminate a blind corner crossing at the Jamie Baxter stairs.
“The visibility of pedestrians crossing Mountainview Drive at the Jamie Baxter stairs has been a safety concern for many years,” Gordon indicated in his proposal to council.
Straightening out the curve to improve visibility had been considered but the District’s property line at the location and the steepness of the bank there would have meant little improvement at a cost considered unwarranted.
Instead “an additional painted and illuminated crosswalk installed at a location approximately 60 feet south of the Jamie Baxter stairs at the apex of the corner eliminates the visibility issue,” Gordon noted in his proposal to council.
He said some work at the location would be needed to guide pedestrians to the new crosswalk.
This will be the second crosswalk project for the year – a replacement was earlier approved, also for an illuminated one, at Mountainview and Hagman Crescent.
Council had allocated $40,000 for that project and a winning bid came in from Westcana Electric at $26,200.
That resulted in monies being available for the additional crosswalk which will be topped up by $15,000 in federal gas tax revenue that had been alloted to the Steelhead Park H flower bed replacement.
“The additional work will be awarded through a direct award / change order to the contractor performing the work at Mountainview/Hagman,” said District of Houston chief administrative officer Gerald Pinchbeck.
Councillor Troy Reitsma moved the motion for the additional crosswalk project at council’s Aug. 6 meeting and it was seconded by councillor Tim Anderson.