The board of trustees adopted the district’s hazardous roadway guidelines that will take effect for the 2025-26 school year at the Sept. 17 work session.
What you need to know
The updates for the 2025-26 school year are the first changes to PISD’s hazardous roadway guidelines since October 2010, said Steven Ewing, chief for business services. Since then, some of the hazardous roadways in the 2010 plan no longer qualify because of infrastructure upgrades.
As part of designating hazardous roadways, the district can apply for up to 10% of its normal transportation allotment from the state, which can be used on bus routes for designated hazardous roadways. Ewing said the district has regularly exceeded that threshold with the current policies in place.
By designating hazardous roadways, it can allow for students who live within two miles of a school to receive bus service, provided they must cross a hazardous roadway to get to campus.
Some context
Ewing presented an overview of potential changes to trustees during an Aug. 20 work session with a goal of having more “specific and less subjective” criteria for designating hazardous roadways.
According to meeting documents, the new criteria include:
- Four- or six-lane roadway with a speed limit over 45 mph
- Four- or six-lane roadway that does not have pedestrian-activated traffic signals
- US 75
- Dallas North Tollway
- President George Bush Turnpike
- Preston Road
- Active railroad tracks
- Areas that do not have sidewalks or a safe path
Looking ahead
Ewing said district staff would bring back a list of roads to be classified as hazardous roadways at a future meeting.
