University of Dayton - MyLife

Crossing Brown Street

Although the subject of this blog may seem insignificant and not worth writing about, it is an issue that both I and the majority of the UD community deals with at some point. You see, there are several shops and restaurants located on Brown Street across from campus and the student neighborhood. These businesses are frequented by most of the student population at UD due to their delicious food offerings and close proximity to campus. Now the challenge involved in going to these restaurants lies in crossing Brown Street. During the day and the evening, this is a rather busy four-lane street with a middle turning lane. The only crosswalks near the strip of shops and restaurants are located at Stewart Street and Wyoming Avenue, probably a quarter mile apart or so. Therefore, it is quicker to cross the street where most convenient rather than walking all the way to one of the two crosswalks. This, of course, can be dangerous and is illegal, albeit not strongly enforced. A couple weeks ago, the University notified the student body via email the importance of not crossing roads outside of crosswalks. I propose a solution: adding a crosswalk at the midpoint of the main strip of retail along Brown Street. This would only be more useful in the future with the construction of even more shops and restaurants along Brown. I addition to making pedestrian traffic flow more efficiently and safely, it would also benefit vehicular traffice by adding a stoplight at one of the sidestreets running into Brown. Just a thought...

Jan 29, 2007 10:28 PM Permalink