County Commissioners discuss safety upgrades
SUPERIOR – The County Commissioner’s weekly meeting Friday brought the approval of two projects that will bring about beneficial changes to the Mineral County communities.
The first item on the agenda was to hear the bids for the Pardee Creek Road Culvert Project.
According to the county’s invitation for bids, the project is to remove the existing culvert along Pardee Creek Road and replace it “with a 112” x 75” 46’ corrugated steel pipe arch.” The invitation stated the work would include any needed road and stream work as well.
The bids received came from Western Reclamation, bidding approximately $20,900, and Haskins Excavating, bidding about $33,000.
During discussions of the bids, Road Foreman Jason McLees recommended that Western Reclamation be granted the bid. Due to it being the lowest bid, the County Commissioners voted unanimously to accept the Western Reclamation bid and offered them the contract by phone.
The other item will benefit the St. Regis community directly. The Commissioners discussed the possibility of adding bike and pedestrian paths to the streets of St. Regis. The issue was raised by the Community Transportation Enhancement Program in an agreement for a project costing $85,000 with a match of about $11,400 from the St. Regis Resort District.
During discussion of the issue, it was mentioned how lumber traffic going through town creates a hazard. The large trucks have very little maneuverability and low visibility along the sides where pedestrians could disappear. With how fast traffic travels along St. Regis’s main streets, concern was voiced over the possibility that cyclists and pedestrians could be at risk from other vehicles as well.
It was deemed that adding a lane for pedestrians and cyclists would provide enough clearance from the rest of traffic to create a safer environment. The commissioners unanimously approved CTEP’s agreement for the $85,000 project.
The commissioners also discussed community safety procedures with a special focus on reviewing back-to-school safety tips and the rules for driving in school zones.
The rules, as read by Commissioner’s Assistant Cindy Grimm were that drivers should be careful driving through school zones as “children may be out and about at various times throughout the day for recess, lunch time and field trips.” Driving into school parking lots should be avoided as they become centers of traffic before and after school, when parents are picking up or dropping off kids. It was also noted that children are “unpredictable” and might unexpectedly run into the street.
During her presentation, it was noted by Grimm that there are approximately 310,000 “school transportation vehicles” on the road.
“School buses are on of the safest forms of transportation, but accidents do occur,” read Grimm. “It is everyone’s job to ensure that everyone arrives at their destination safely.”
Grimm then included safety tips for driving when a school bus is around. These included always stopping when a bus’s lights are flashing and never passing a school bus while it has its lights flashing.
“Children crossing won’t notice you passing and won’t be prepared for your car in a different lane than usual,” said Grimm.
Further tips included not passing other vehicles in a school zone, driving the posted speed limit and avoiding making two- or three-point turns if possible.