Students will notice rather colorful crosswalks as they move from class to class.
Outside of a splash of creativity, these temporary paintings are step two of seven in Uptown Normal and Illinois State University’s quick-build projects. These plans are included in the recently launched Pedestrian and Roadway Campus Safety Initiative.
The initiative is a grant-funded project currently run by the Town of Normal; safety concerns rose from the community regarding traffic and pedestrian activity, which encouraged the launching of the initiative, ISU Director of Environmental Health and Safety Adam McCrary said.
“We've done a lot of research, collected a lot of data, and [have] come up with these ideas about what we can do here,” McCrary said. “What they're trying to do is find common, feasible solutions that will focus on areas around campus that people are concerned about.”
In addition to brightening the crosswalks, the sidewalks around campus received a refresh and temporary bike lanes were created as a test run for future construction plans. A two-way stop will be converted to a four-way stop at Broadway and Beaufort, and several other projects will commence to improve foot traffic safety for students and Normal residents.
“We wouldn't be here without our students, faculty and staff. It's extremely important we engage them whenever we do these types of initiatives and projects,” McCrary said. “[We want] to get their feedback because they're our primary customers and the users of our campus.”
Town of Normal Director of Public Works and Engineering Ryan Otto said the projects were motivated by a rise in accidents involving pedestrians, bicycles and cars. The rapidly moving traffic risked the safety of many on-foot commuters — some accidents resulted in fatalities.
“Our goal with this project is to pilot projects that improve safety for everyone in the community,” Otto said.
“Our hope is that [the] lessons we learn through these pilot projects can be implemented community-wide. I think in the next couple of years, we will look to implement the lessons we learned but continue to explore options to decrease pedestrian and vehicle interactions.”
