City Council will have the final say in a project seeking changes on Russell Road near Naomi L. Brooks Elementary School.
In a written update to the Traffic and Parking Board Monday, city staff indicated appeals on the Russell Road Safe Routes to School Project are going to City Council on Nov. 14. City Council will review the appeals and full project before making a final decision.
In July, the board voted to remove 20 parking spaces on Russell Road between W. Myrtle and W. Maple Streets. That action supported the proposed Option 2 to provide painted curb extensions, high-visibility crosswalk markings, three median crossing islands, improved ADA curb ramps at six Russell Road intersections and a new pedestrian crossing at W. Chapman Street.
City staff’s original Option 1 called for a net loss of two parking spaces and endorsed all features except the three median crossing islands. However, much of the July public testimony from residents supported Option 2 to address safety concerns with walking and bicycling on Russell Road.
Another concern mentioned in written testimony focused on parking challenges that removing parking spaces would create for Naomi L. Brooks Elementary staff. With the July vote, the board had asked city staff to return to the board with parking proposals to serve staff at Naomi L. Brooks Elementary.
After the vote, the city’s Transportation and Environmental Services director Leah Riley proposed Alternative C with a net loss of two parking spaces and addition of two loading spaces. That proposal included median refuge islands at the intersections with W. Masonic View Avenue and W. Walnut Street.
In September, the board voted against adding parking and loading spaces recommended in Riley’s Alternative C — five on-street parking spaces in the 600 block of Russell Road, two loading zone spaces with time restrictions in the 600 block of Russell Road and six on-street parking spaces in the 700 block of Johnston Place.
Even after the board’s September decision, Riley indicated T&ES would move forward with the six spaces on Johnston Place but accept the board’s recommendation in the 600 block of Russell Road.
“I have determined the addition of parking spaces on Johnston Place will alleviate parking demand and support school employees, whose numbers are increasing this year,” Riley wrote in an Oct. 2 letter to the Traffic and Parking Board.
The appeals come as the city is working to align road changes with the 2027 repaving of Russell Road.
Russell Road at Naomi L. Brooks Elementary image via Google Maps
