By Karolyn Gephart
A select group of second-grade students from Wedgewood Elementary participated in the Friendswood City Council meeting March 2, 2020 to take part in a mock governance simulation.
The students were seated in Council chairs to replace the Mayor, City Council, and Staff. They also participated in a mock vote on a resolution declaring March 6, 2020, as Wedgewood Elementary Day in Friendswood.
The event was held to show the students government in action.
In other Council news, the City commissioned Brown & Gay Engineers, Inc. (BGE) to conduct a city-wide traffic study to analyze the mobility needs of the city. Existing congestion was evaluated along with potential transportation infrastructure improvements.
The firm also had information from a public meeting held on August 14, 2019 at the Friendswood Public Library where residents had an opportunity to express their traffic concerns.
Three future years, 2025, 2030, and 2040, were evaluated for short-, mid-, and long-term improvements.
The Study’s findings and recommendations were presented at the Council meeting in a report. The listed improvements identified in the traffic study could help reduce the delays and long queues that drivers within the City of Friendswood currently experience and would experience in the future.
The report advised that the growth in the City of Friendswood, will provide economic benefits to the area with the unfortunate impact of increased traffic. Fortunately, growth will occur over time providing opportunities for the City of Friendswood to improve to the roadway network.
This study provides the necessary mitigation options that could alleviate these major traffic concerns for the next 25 years. These options were determined through extensive analyses of the intersections along with the resident’s input from the public meeting. Some of the recommendations have a relatively quick timeline for implementation, such as optimizing the traffic signals along the corridors, and others that require additional planning, such as major corridor widening.
The City of Friendswood can use these recommendations as part of a future planning effort to identify funding solutions and ensure mobility needs are being met.
