The City of Oxford and the Talawanda School District (TSD) have discussed ways to get children to school safely for the last decade, but recently, Oxford City Council has taken action to make it safer for students who now may have to walk up to two miles due to the recent cut of busing within a 2-mile radius of the school.
As part of the Safe Routes to School program, members of city council and the school district worked to identify how kids are getting to school, what barriers they face and how their journey can be made safer through a School Travel Plan.
Part of this identification process involved zeroing in on a high-traffic intersection en route to Talawanda Middle School: the intersection of Oxford-Reily Road and Dana Drive. Without a traffic light, this location makes it difficult for middle school students to cross the intersection safely and efficiently.
Council initially made an effort to improve the intersection when designing the layout of the Oxford Area Trails (OATS) by amending its budget to include $75,000 of funding. After a great deal of consideration for what would best suit the intersection, city staff decided a full traffic signal was the best way to go.
On Sept. 3, Oxford City Council approved a resolution to install a full traffic signal at the intersection, which will stop oncoming traffic for pedestrians once activated. The project was introduced to council by councilor David Prytherch, who expressed concerns for those using the OATS to get to the middle school.
“The trail provides such a great multi-use connection between neighborhoods and the middle school,” Prytherch said, “but it was planned to cross the intersection [of Oxford-Reily Road and Dana Drive]. So now you’re funneling even more kids across what we know to be an unsafe intersection.”
One section of the OATS crosses Oxford-Reily Road at its intersection with Dana Drive, which will become a high-volume area for pedestrian traffic. The new trail segment from the Oxford Community Park to the middle school was just completed in August and provides a direct, multi-use pathway connection from neighborhoods along Brookville Road and OH 732 to the middle school.
City engineer Scott Otto said he and his team identified a few different ways to improve traffic control in this area, which would replace the rectangular, rapid-flashing beacon currently installed at the intersection.
“What’s there now is a signal that when a pedestrian wants to cross, they push the button and it flashes yellow lights at the pedestrians signs, but it really doesn’t require vehicles to stop,” Otto said.
Council approved City Manager Doug Elliott to enter into a contract with Miller Cable Company, who produced the lowest bid on the project, at the Sept. 3 meeting.
Miller’s accepted bid on the project came out to be $113,000, but Otto said that there is typically a 10% contingency for any additional costs that may be incurred, so council approved the project as not to exceed $124,300. This number includes those possible extra costs in addition to the original bid.
The signal is set to be fully operational by March 7, according to Otto, though he hopes that the project will be done much sooner. Until then, the two roads may experience temporary one lane closures, but no full closures are planned for the construction.
Currently, the Oxford Police Department (OPD) contracts with and shares costs with TSD to supply school resource officers, who often direct traffic at the beginning and end of the school day.
However, TSD does not have any crossing guards beyond school grounds, nor does OPD have the resources to provide that coverage. The city is working with TSD to evaluate the feasibility of partnering on a district-led crossing guard program for the future.
