The University and the City of Charlottesville will work together to move the crosswalk located behind Cabell Hall on Jefferson Park Avenue.
The new crosswalk will be moved 150 feet east toward the University Medical Center.
Several accidents occurring on the crosswalk -- including that of English Prof. Cynthia Wall, who was struck by a car Sept. 11, 2002 -- forced officials to review the current traffic patterns on JPA.
"Moving the crosswalk would certainly help with traffic coming from the west, but the next problem will be with cars turning left out of the B-1 parking lot" behind Cabell Hall, Wall said.
But Wall said the location of the crosswalk is not solely to blame for the accident.
"It is more of an issue of crosswalk culture; people are not educated that pedestrians have the right of way," Wall added.
Officials hope moving the crosswalk to the east will give drivers more time to react to pedestrians crossing the street.
"The problem was that just as cars crest the hill, the pedestrians are right there," University Landscape Architect Mary Hughes said. "Moving the crosswalk further east gives the driver more time to see the pedestrians."
The University's General Safety and Security Committee, comprised of students, faculty and staff, decided the existing crosswalk is "definitely in the wrong place," Committee Chairman Mark Fletcher said.
"The crosswalk may improve the [JPA parking lot] B-1 traffic, although it may make it more difficult to turn left," he said.
The start date of the project has not yet been determined.
"When the crosswalk will move depends on when the University can move the stairs, since that is the more expensive part of the project," said Ian Keats, City traffic engineer of the Department of Neighborhood Development Services.
"The new crosswalk will make pedestrians inter-visible for both directions of traffic."
The University and the city are jointly funding the project.
"The project will cost just under $13,000 and the funding will be provided partly by the University and partly by the City," said one source who would only identify herself as a representative of Neighborhood Development Services.
The City will remove the old crosswalk and markings, reinstall the new crosswalk and markings, and relocate sidewalk ramps.
The University will construct the new steps, install an emergency phone, and adjust the handrail, the representative said.
Currently, flags surround the crosswalk to make pedestrians more visible at night.
"The flags that are currently being used to help with the safety on JPA were previously used on an experimental basis out further west in the United States," Fletcher said.
Some students believe that traffic accidents are unavoidable and a part of everyday life.
"Reality is that people get hit by cars all the time, but when it happens at the university they make a big deal about it," third-year Engineering student Ben Maskell said.
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