Amarillo City Council voted on Tuesday to end the Traffic Advisory Board and Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Committee.

The Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Committee was created in 2016. According to the resolution establishing the committee, its purpose was to provide Amarillo City Council advice on topics including pedestrian and bicycle safety concerns, policies and programs for resolutions of such concerns, encouraging citizen participation in identifying concerns, and consulting on the development of a bicycle and pedestrian master plan. The committee’s most recent meeting was held on April 10th of last year.

The Traffic Advisory Board, originally formed as the Traffic Commission, is tasked with making recommendations concerning school safety, education and publicity, requesting and reviewing traffic engineering studies, and making recommendations to the council for ways to improve traffic conditions. It also oversaw the red light camera program, which has since been banned by state law. The board has not met since 2021.

The council also voted to make changes to two other city boards.

One of these votes involved dissolving the First Responders’ Excellence and Innovation Fund, which had received criticism in recent years for failing to make notable accomplishments. The remaining members of the board overseeing the fund voted to disperse the remaining funds. With the vote from the council, the fund is now dissolved.

The other vote involved a change to the bylaws of the Amarillo Economic Development Corporation Board of Directors. The change will place the city manager “or his or her designee” as a non-voting ex-officio member of the board. This change is likely a prelude to the council voting to add several new voting members to the board, with such an item expected to appear on an agenda after a joint council-AEDC meeting set for later this month.