Students walking on UK’s campus often find themselves at the mercy of cars racing by, and many just do not care.
Jaywalking has been a problem on UK’s campus for years, but solutions to the problem are few and far between.
“Part of the problem is not just students, but employees also,” said UK Police Chief Joe Monroe. “They need to be aware of their surroundings. It seems basic, but they need to make sure the cars are actually stopped before they step out in the traffic.”
Students and faculty can be seen jaywalking daily throughout campus. One of the most popular areas is on Rose Street. Photo by Britney McIntosh | staff
Monroe said Rose Street at least provides a median for people crossing the street to pause in. In contrast, Limestone Avenue is a much wider road.
“If you look at Limestone, you’re trying to cross five lanes of traffic.” Monroe said. “They’re trying to do studies to find out what would be the best way to slow (traffic) down and make it more pedestrian-friendly.”
Of 25 students informally surveyed, 18 said they jaywalk “all the time” on UK’s campus. Some said jaywalking is essential to getting around campus in a timely manner. A few had friends who had been hit by cars before, but they continue to jaywalk.
Only five of the students surveyed said they jaywalk occasionally, but not often. Two students said they never jaywalk.
UK students often said a frequent problem occurs when pedestrians cross the street at intersections when the lights say they should not walk, but they also said more crosswalks would slow down traffic and cause more harm than good.
“I think if (pedestrians) followed the lights that say when they can walk, (the situation) would be a lot better,” said gender and women’s studies junior Alyssa McKenzie. “A lot of times, they don’t see cars coming and they just walk. They’re in a rush, but so are the people who are driving.”
Monroe said people on or around campus are trying to get to their destinations in the shortest amount of time possible, so they cross wherever necessary.
“You have an open sidewalk, so people, as a matter of habit, always take the shortest route to somewhere,” he said. “Some of the things they’re looking at for the project downtown is to install bushes or some kind of curb appeal to direct pedestrians toward the crosswalk.”
Monroe said while pedestrian-vehicle accidents occur periodically, they are not an everyday occurrence.
People on campus can be cited for jaywalking, Monroe said, but it is not a high priority unless it becomes an issue in a certain area.
“If it is a problem, then we’ll send an extra person out there,” he said.
I’m glad to see this finally get some attention – jaywalking is a huge problem for pedestrians, drivers and cyclists. Last semester I was in at least 5 near-accidents when a pedestrian stepped out in front of me while I was driving/biking.
Almost every time I drive Rose Street students walk right in front of my car without ever looking. Most of them are talking with friends, listening to something, texting, or talking on their phones. They step right out and never once seem to consider they are no longer on the sidewalk but in the street. I’m amazed more of them aren’t hit.
The same thing goes for many bike riders. They change lanes, swerve in and out of traffic, ignore stop signs and other rules of the road, ride after dark without lights or any reflective gear, and expect everyone to watch out for them at intersections as they ride directly into traffic. I’m expecting a bike rider to be seriously hurt or killed at UK because many of them don’t follow any safety rules. When I lived on an Air Force base we had to pass a bike safety course, including hand signals and knowing all of the rules of the road, before receiving a plate that allowed us to ride a bike on base. If we were caught without a plate, our bike was impounded until we passed the safety course. Three impounds and the bike became property of the base police. I’m beginning to think Lexington could use a similar policy.
To add to the confusion, there’s a sign next to the pedestrian crosswalk signal at Columbia and Rose that says, “Turning Traffic Must Yield To Pedestrians.” If pedestrians crossing Rose Street here don’t push the crosswalk button, traffic turning left onto Rose sees that sign and a big orange hand that tells pedestrians not to walk. What to do, what to do…
UK could put in more crosswalks, and put caution lights up, too. The crosswalk on Rose at Funkhouser doesn’t have lights, but the one down the street at Maxwell Place does.
I both walk and drive around this campus, and my sense is that pedestrians are far and away the more discourteous.