Students from a sixth-grade class presented a school project to the Fall River City Traffic Board describing safety problems at the South Coast Market Plaza entrance and exit on Stafford Road, near Holy Trinity and LeTourneau schools.

The students said sight-line obstructions and heavy traffic at dismissal made crossing and turning hazardous. One student suggested trimming bushes to improve visibility: "My solution was to cut down some of the bushes there so it'd be easier to see when you're turning," the student said. Other students recommended a traffic signal and no-parking zones near the corner to keep sight lines clear during pick-up and drop-off.

Board staff described existing signage and school-zone measures already in place. Stephanie McArthur, director of traffic and parking, noted that portions of Stafford Road are already designated as prohibited parking near Letourneau and that flashing school-zone signs are installed in parts of the corridor; she said enforcement had been attempted but that parents often park illegally for pick-up convenience.

To gather objective evidence, the board agreed to place a mobile traffic-trailer that records speeds and traffic flow. A board member said, "I'm curious to see what the flow and what kind of speeds are being done over there. So I'm gonna have my guys drop 1 of those... It’ll collect some data for us. And, if you guys give me the month, I'll have that trailer collection data. We'll see how many vehicles are flowing through there, what type of speeds. If it's, you know, clearly a problem like that, we might have to go to a, a traffic light." The board asked staff to return findings at the next meeting.

The students also proposed practical, low-cost changes the board can implement quickly: trimming vegetation on city-owned property and exploring a short no-parking zone at the plaza exit to improve sight lines. Staff said trimming public vegetation is straightforward; trimming on private property would require additional steps such as contacting property owners.

The board did not approve new signals or signs at the meeting; instead, staff will collect and analyze trailer data and report back at the following meeting for a data-driven decision.