Wyoming, Michigan, October 6, 2021 – The City of Wyoming will use art to attract students and adults to utilize crosswalks in four locations to improve public safety while instilling community pride.
Creatively painted crosswalks have proven to be an effective tool in reducing pedestrian and vehicle accidents in many communities throughout the United States. The design encourages pedestrians to use the crosswalk instead of walking in a non-designated space and provides a visual cue to vehicles.
In addition to improving public safety, City leaders hope the project will increase community and school district pride, as noted by Mayor Jack Poll during the Monday, Oct. 4 City Council meeting when the project was approved.
“Using art to transform our city into a safer, more desirable community is part of what we do here in Wyoming,” Poll said. “We hope this project will be another opportunity to enhance recognition that residents are part of one community, one City of Wyoming, regardless of where they live and which school district they attend.”
City Community Services Department staff worked with Public Safety to discuss emergency response needs and identify a location within each school district that would benefit from a new crosswalk. This information was combined with additional information provided by the City’s traffic engineers to determine the best locations for this first round of funding. Expected to be completed this fall weather depending. The locations are:
- Godfrey Lee Street and Cleveland Avenue, located in Godfrey-Lee Public School District
- Prairie Parkway between Michael and Burlingame Avenues, located in Wyoming Public School District
- 34th Street and Buchanan Avenue, located in Godwin Heights Public School District
- Magnolia Avenue and Farnham Street, located in Kelloggsville Public School District
“Our city and its school communities are invested in health and safety,” said Bill Fetterhoff, superintendent of Godwin Heights Public Schools, one of seven districts serving Wyoming residents. “We are appreciative of the partnership to increase safety while our students travel in the community.”
A fifth location at 52nd Street and Wilson Avenue in the City of Wyoming’s Grandville Public Schools District is scheduled to be constructed in 2022 when additional funds become available.
“Ultimately, our goal is to install at least one vibrant, graphic crosswalk within each of our city’s school districts,” said Rebecca Rynbrandt, director of community services and project leader.
“We look forward to continuing to collaborate with our school districts, public safety and engineering department to select locations that would most benefit from this project.”
The crosswalk designs were formulated by staff in consultation with each school district.
The crosswalks were funded by $65,000 in grants from the city’s Community Development Block Grant fund, or CDBG, and a $10,000 grant from the General Motors Corporation.
For the 2021 Crosswalk Improvement Project, P.K. Contracting, LLC was awarded a bit of $63,915 with a construction contingency of $11,085 for a total project amount of $75,000