THE UNIVERSITY is expanding rapidly. It seems like you can't go anywhere these days without running into a construction zone. While this growth is exciting, the expansion of these construction zones also raises safety concerns for drivers and pedestrians. In some areas around grounds, particularly those near Jefferson Park Avenue, the congestion caused by the construction requires further enforcement measures than are currently in place. Although the University has recognized the threat and implemented some rudimentary crowd control mechanisms, these do not go far enough towards ensuring our safety.
Before all the recent building activity, the JPA area near the Student Health Center was easily traversable, at least when compared to the current situation. Now, however, increased traffic due to smaller road space on JPA has forced more students and more cars to share the same environment. It has become more difficult, say, for students leaving New Cabell Hall to cross to the other side of JPA because there are so many cars. Some construction workers at that crosswalk are now acting as crossing guards to minimize the inconvenience and the danger. As long as they remain there, that part of JPA will remain an inconvenience, but at least it will be safe. A safe inconvenience is something we can tolerate under the circumstances, but it gets worse in other areas.
The biggest problem around this general JPA site lies specifically at the intersection with Lane Road, a junction where many students turn to reach McLeod Hall. At this place, the construction zone to the right of JPA -- right if you're walking towards downtown -- has isolated the sidewalk that people previously used to reach McLeod or perhaps some part of the hospital. This means that for safety's sake people should now cross over to the other side of Lane and use the sidewalk there if they're going to McLeod, or use that same route to come back to the main JPA sidewalk if they're leaving it. Sounds simple and straightforward enough, but very few people do it. What people generally do is walk alongside the concrete barrier
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