IUPUI Student Affairs Committee

Recommendations to IFC Regarding

Campus Pedestrian Safety

The Student Affairs Committee recognizes the legal and manpower limitations governing the IUPUI Police and Administration in regard to safety issues recognized on the IUPUI campus. The Committee appreciates that laws regarding adjacent roadways were enacted to accommodate the efficient flow of vehicular traffic and, as such, pedestrians must assume a great deal of responsibility for their own safety when crossing all campus roadways.

Accepting the above factors, the City of Indianapolis must be aware that much has changed on the IUPUI campus. A larger number of individual are engaged in activities in more campus buildings. University Hospital is expanding, and with that expansion we can expect an increasing stream of visitors. Traditional on-campus housing opportunities have increased the amount of student pedestrian travel along Michigan and New York Streets. These factors, combined with the fact of increasing numbers of accidents involving vehicles and pedestrians, must be a driving force in the adoption of slower speeds and more stringent traffic enforcement on the IUPUI campus.

Based on a response from University Police Deputy Chief of Police Larry Propst to our inquiry regarding pedestrian safety, the IUPUI Student Affairs Committee makes the following recommendation to the IFC.

Encourage Chancellor Bantz and University Police to work with the city and the appropriate city departments to:

1. Lower the 35 mph speed limit on Michigan and New York Streets

2. Install scramble lights at key intersections

3. Repaint existing appropriate pedestrian crosswalks and remove those that are not appropriate or are in violation of state statutes

4. Change the timing of automatic signals to allow longer pedestrian crossing times.

Endorsed unanimously by IFC on 4-3-07