Traffic Safety Commission asks council for clearer priorities, data support and staff resources

The Newberg Traffic Safety Commission presented its active issues log to council and asked for clearer direction and resources to prioritize traffic‑safety requests and support implementation.

Vice Chair Rick Marshall explained the commission's role under municipal code and said the group reviewed predecessors' long lists and consolidated items into two categories: current operational items (signage, data requests) and long‑range planning (policy documents, transportation system plan alignment). He said many items on the active log require data collection or engineering analysis that the commission cannot complete without staff support.

"There need to be some resources to support the work," Marshall said, and the commission recommended prioritizing the active issues log to identify items that would reduce crashes or improve pedestrian safety. Commissioners suggested staff perform or coordinate targeted speed and volume counts and return prioritized recommendations to council.

Councilors and staff discussed options: council asked staff to ensure see‑click‑fix reports are not anonymous so the city can follow up with complainants, and directed that the commission be given a regular reporting cadence similar to other advisory bodies. Public Works staff noted some counting equipment exists in‑house but additional staff capacity is required to run repeated counts and to move from data collection to implementation.

Ending: Council asked staff and the commission to coordinate next steps, to establish a regular schedule for commission briefings to council and to identify specific data collection needs for prioritized items; no budget appropriation was approved at this meeting.