Pedestrian Safety
This university and city have been afflicted with an unfortunate number of pedestrians being struck by automobiles.
After three pedestrians were struck and killed on Route 1 between January and July, city and state officials approved a series of initiatives and changes to keep pedestrians and motorists safe. Officials decreased the speed limit on Route 1, increased the number of speed cameras and their hours of operation and approved building a median fence on a section of Route 1 near several restaurants and bars to prevent pedestrians from jaywalking. The area we’ve referred to as “The Deadliest Stretch” has also become a high-traffic area for police officers to give jaywalkers warnings and citations.
While jaywalking on other streets might seem less daunting than jaywalking across Route 1, it is still a dangerous act that occurs often at another intersection.
At the intersection of Knox Road and Sterling Place — the area between College Park Shopping Center, which houses Jason’s Deli and another retail unit that contains a 7-Eleven — has a high amount of foot traffic and car traffic. In particular, there are a number of motorists entering and exiting the shopping centers. The jaywalking at this intersection most likely occurs because it is the most direct route between the two areas, as compared to walking down to the crosswalk at the corner of Knox Road and Route 1. Jaywalking at this intersection is not new; it is just more easily noticeable after the events of the past year and the new initiatives to prevent jaywalking across Route 1.
While initiatives have been put in place to curb jaywalking across Route 1, something must be done at the intersection of Knox Road and Sterling Place before any lives are lost there.
Terry Schum, the city’s planning director, suggested installing a crosswalk at the intersection at an April 15 City Council worksession. Assistant City Manager Bill Gardiner said a crosswalk likely would not be installed until early next year because of funding and safety concerns over a midblock crosswalk.
The city seems to be stuck between a rock and a hard place. Officials can either hope they remain lucky with an absence of pedestrian safety incidents at the intersection, or they can figure out the financial and engineering details of installing a crosswalk to try to prevent any collisions from occurring. District 3 Councilman Robert Day said that officials have “been lucky” with the lack of accidents at the intersection.
However, residents of the city and students of this university should not rely on luck to keep them safe. Granted, pedestrians would be safer if they crossed Knox Road at the designated crosswalk on Route 1 or the crosswalk adjacent to South Campus Commons and the College Park Towers apartment complex. But if the road to building a crosswalk at the intersection of Sterling Place and Knox Road is a long one, the city could discourage jaywalking even more by having police become a more active presence at this intersection.
Despite the overwhelming dangers of jaywalking, pedestrians will continue to do it, prioritizing convenience over safety. To combat this problem, officials must establish crosswalks at needed locations.
