Initiative would create brightly-colored crosswalks to increase youth safety

City streets employees think a bit of color might be just the thing to make crosswalks pop.

And, that could mean safer streets for youths walking near Lawton schools.

Cliff Martin, superintendent of traffic control in the city’s Public Works Department, presented the idea of Crosswalks to Classrooms to members of the City Council’s Streets and Bridges Committee. While committee members didn’t commit to the initiative — Chairman/Ward 4 Councilman George Gill said next year’s tight budget means city funding isn’t available for it — city staff said they want to pursue the idea and solicit support from the community.

Martin said the idea is one city staff is borrowing from Florida, where communities such as Tallahassee have adopted an initiative to use “asphalt art” and painted crosswalks to draw attention to roads and intersections. The idea: the colors are so eye-catching, what otherwise would be simply painted road markings blending into the pavement catches the attention of drivers, making them more mindful of pedestrians.

Martin said that could be especially important around schools, where students walk in and along streets or cross them as they travel from home to school. He said Lawton streets officials are looking at the idea as a traffic calming measure, something that could be used when streets don’t meet the criteria for installation of speed tables (raised areas in designed to slow traffic to less than 25 miles per hour).

“It’s worth looking into,” he said.

Martin said he’s spoken to the chairman of one of the Florida initiatives, a group that had installed three of the painted crosswalks just last weekend. The concept is well received in that community, Martin said, explaining the eye-catching colors are a decided contrast to typical white and yellow colors that blend in so well, many drivers are unaware of them.

Tallahassee officials, led by Knight Creative Communities Institute, said the projects are a popular way to engage the community because they are collaborations among local artists, community groups and the government. Equally important, they increase the visibility of pedestrians and bicycle riders. Organizers select crosswalks and intersections based on traffic patterns and incident data, with schools being high on the list (Martin said he thinks that will be true in Lawton, too).

The concept urges the community to take the lead role, selecting an intersection, then developing the design they present to the city for approval, then raising funds and coordinating the painting project. In Tallahassee, it is a community event, where a variety of people participate and celebrate.

Gill, asking whether city staff has decided how many crosswalks they are looking at and the cost, said the City of Lawton is facing budgetary constraints in the fiscal year that begins July 1, and won’t have the revenue to dedicate to such a venture. Martin said Tallahassee estimated the cost of each project at $7,000 to $8,000, which includes everything associated with the project (to include permits and the cost of closing the street for the day).

Gill said such funding would have to come from outside the city. Normally, such projects could be funded via the streets maintenance fund, but that fund won’t be able to support the initiative because of cuts being made to balance the budget.

“There is no extra money,” Gill said.

Martin said streets officials just wanted to let the committee know about the project, as they continue to identify those who might want to participate, such as local artists, community groups and sponsoring businesses.