The Mayor’s Public Safety Committee held its first meeting on Thursday, February 24 at Town Hall to discuss improving traffic and pedestrian safety in Fuquay-Varina, particularly around schools. The Town is acting as a facilitator to bring all concerned citizens, the schools and the Department of Transportation together to consider all viable options to improve school safety on the roads and sidewalks near our schools. Mayor Byrne encouraged committee members to “put all ideas on the table. We don’t want to take anything off the table that might help the Town.”



The committee, which is comprised of a police officer, school leaders, businessmen, and officials from the Town and the Department of Transportation discussed goals for the committee. Broadly, the committee will focus on public safety education and determine specific safety concerns, with a particular focus on Fuquay-Varina High School. The committee will then make recommendations to address those specific concerns and work with the appropriate federal, state or county agency to best address them.



The Town of Fuquay and NCDOT are currently working together to bring changes to NC Highway 55 near the high school. In the next few weeks, NCDOT will add new pedestrian warning signs in both directions on NC55 in the area around the high school. The signs have a very strong yellow-green color which will make them more visible. NCDOT is also replacing the existing pedestrian signal heads on NC55 at Wake Chapel Road with countdown pedestrian heads. The speed limit will be reduced to 25 mph full-time from Wake Chapel Road southward to US401, and 35 mph from Wake Chapel Road northward to James Slaughter Road. The Town of Fuquay-Varina requested these speed limit reductions from NCDOT more than a year ago and approved them at a Town Board meeting in early February after they were granted by the department. Because NC55 is a state-owned road, the reduction must be approved by both the Town and NCDOT. Look for the speed reductions to take effect in mid to late March.



The Mayor’s Public Safety Committee will meet again on Thursday, March 31 at 6:00 pm at Town Hall.