In light of recent accidents involving pedestrians and cyclists, Monday's semiannual Safety Walk focused specifically on bus stops and crosswalks.
The University's Safety and General Security Committee went on their semiannual Night Tour Safety Walk of the University and surrounding areas Monday night.
The purpose of the walk is to identify potentially dangerous areas around Grounds to target for future improvements in safety.
This year, bus stops and crosswalks were a major focus of the walk, according to committee chair Mark Fletcher.
These, along with the usual tasks of inspecting emergency phones and lighting, all were investigated for potential safety concerns. The progress and effectiveness of projects that were approved and undertaken after previous walks were followed up as well.
The group of about 10 people was comprised of students and University Police along with staff members from Housing, Parking and Transportation, Human Resources, and Facilities Management.
"The people are all on the walks who can make it happen," Director of Parking and Transportation Rebecca White said. "We're able to make decisions pretty fast."
The group embarked upon the two and a half hour tour around Grounds that led them to discover a number of subtle problems as well as the more obvious problems.
"Eight to ten lights were out in crucial areas," Fletcher said.
Other areas that were identified as needing more lights included the Architecture School, the steps behind Clemons Library, areas behind the Chemistry Building and the B1 parking lot on Jefferson Park Avenue.
"JPA has always been a problem because of heavy traffic flow along there," said Jeff Sitler, committee executive secretary.
Off-Grounds bus stops were especially focused on this year because they are often just a sign on the side of the road, committee members said.
"The call is pretty significant for a sidewalk behind Lambeth Field," Fletcher said, adding that "the bus stop across from Gooch-Dillard [also] needs a little help."
He also said the crosswalks across Emmet Street from Memorial Gym leading to Alumni Hall were being investigated for possible improvements.
When the group returned from their tour of Grounds, they wrote down and prioritized potential problems in order to determine where the funding for upgrades will go initially.
The committee receives about $60,000 in funding to make these improvements, along with aid from related departments and agencies such as Housing. The funds are "allocated in order to do the most crucial projects," Fletcher said.
Some of the previous improvements enacted by the committee include the flood lighting in Lambeth Field residences and the emergency phone behind Clemons Library, which was put up because of the construction in front of the library.
--Associate Editor Jason Amirhadji contributed to this report.
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