The university is considering removing some crosswalks, and banning skateboards and bicycles from pedestrian walkways to improve safety on school grounds, a campus official has told the Student Government Association.
Richard Costello, director of Environmental Health, Safety & Risk Management, addressed the SGA on “pedestrian-related issues” during last Friday’s meeting.
“What we have when we look at the incidents of pedestrian-related issues on our campus, vehicle accidents involving pedestrians or bicycles, we have a higher number of incidents per capita,” Costello said during last Friday’s meeting.
He said the university is conducting an in-depth analysis to figure out the exact number of incidents.
Costello also said there are two issues that the department is focused on regarding pedestrian safety, being both the size and adequacy of the crosswalks, and that students tend not to pay attention when they walk.
“The worst-case scenario, obviously, is someone with an earphone and a phone,” he said.
The director said the department was considering removing the crosswalks from West Kuhn Street through Sugar, and the crosswalk that connects the campus to Stripes off University Drive, while improving the other crosswalks on Sugar. Costello said this will improve student safety.
He said the department is going to conduct a comprehensive study to determine the best way to change the crosswalks to ensure safety.
“The problem is that if we look at Sugar Road, and we funnel the traffic in one direction, if affects the rest of campus,” Costello said.
Marketing campaigns will remind students to pay attention when they walk on crosswalks, he said.
In addition, Costello said there is also a policy that is under review by the school attorneys that would ban non-motorized devices, such as skateboards and bicycles on the pedestrian walkways, such as the Bronc Trail on the Edinburg campus and the Lozano-Banco bridge on the Brownsville campus.
This would be a return to the policy that was implemented in legacy institution UT Pan American back in 2011.
It is not known when the attorneys will finish their review of this policy; however, Costello said the campus community will begin to see a transition into this policy beginning in Summer Session I.
“I anticipate that we’ll see a solid implementation of the program by next September,” he said.
SGA Vice President Peter Averack said the organization will work together with the department on this issue.
In the same meeting, two students addressed the senate:
–Oscar Hernandez, vice president of the UTRGV American Society of Civil Engineers, said the school needs more labs, equipment and space for civil engineering students.
–Patrick Roberts, president of the UTRGV Student Veterans of America, said the university should adopt a “College Credit for Heroes” program, which will allow the school to award credits to veterans who have done the equivalent of their coursework during their service.
SGA meetings are held at 2 p.m. every Friday. The location will be announced later.
For more information, email sga@utrgv.edu.
