Jacob Reeder and Savannah Easton presented their class project for East Grays Harbor High School to the Elma City Council on Feb. 5.

The students suggested the city should undertake a pedestrian flag project.

“We believe the pedestrian flag would be a great addition to our community at crosswalks — make it safer, and it would make an individual more noticeable, or less likely to get hit or have an accident with a car,” Reeder said.

At select crosswalks in Elma, baskets would be installed on each side of the street along with reflective flags people would carry across the street as they’re crossing.

Reeder and Easton suggested three possible locations for the pedestrian flags: the high school by the exit of the parking lot, at the crosswalk between Elma Middle School and Eagles Nest, and at the Grays Harbor Transit bus stop at main street.

Flags cost about $4.50 to $5 each. Baskets cost $10-15. A pedestrian flag crossing would require six flags on each side (12 flags total per crosswalk) and two baskets, one on each side. Flags would be purchased in bulk online, so there would be easy replacement.

Kirkland has a pedestrian flag program, the students told the council. In that case, the City of Kirkland paid for the program.

Reeder and Easton said they were in planning to contact the Rotary Club for startup funding.

“It’s relatively quick getting it set up at the crosswalks,” Reeder said.

Flags may get stolen frequently in the first couple of weeks, a Kirkland official told Reeder, but there the city was persistent in replacing the stolen flags. The City of Tumwater also paid for their pedestrian flag program, and they also had a theft problem. For both cities, the theft problem went away once the flags became commonplace.

“They said it took six months to a year before they stopped getting stolen — before people finally got bored of taking them,” Easton said.

Councilman Tom Boling asked if there are poles at each site on which the baskets could be mounted. Reeder and Easton weren’t sure, but both noted potential mounting points for the baskets.

In total, the students would need some $200 as startup money, either from the city or by donation. Following the installation, the students have asked that the city incorporate the program into its budget.

No action was taken by the council.