Astoria council adopts traffic-safety response policy clarifying severity and options beyond the '3 E's'

The Astoria City Council on Dec. 15 adopted an updated Traffic Safety Advisory Committee response policy that clarifies evaluation terms and opens the committee to strategies beyond the traditional “3 E’s” of education, enforcement and engineering.

Director Darragh (Dart) McLean said staff worked with the committee and public works to incorporate council feedback from a previous meeting, adding language to define severity, frequency, vulnerability and feasibility. The revisions also direct staff to consider options beyond the standard education-enforcement-engineering triad when recommending responses to traffic concerns.

Councilor Davis thanked staff for addressing prior comments; Councilor Adams emphasized the policy’s clarity would help the committee understand its role and purpose. Councilor Mozzarella moved adoption and Councilor Conklin seconded; the council adopted the policy by voice vote.

What it means: the policy gives the traffic-safety advisory committee a clearer rubric for triaging requests and allows staff and volunteers to evaluate a wider set of interventions appropriate to the severity and vulnerability of particular locations.