In the wake of Rachel Soriano ’06’s recent accident, the WSA called a meeting with administrators, members of the Middletown Police Department and the City Government to improve the safety of the roads surrounding campus.
Some short-term fixes will happen almost immediately:
1. The blinking orange lights on Church will have their bulbs replaced with brighter, longer-lasting LED’s.
2. Speed-limit signs will be posted on Church (right now, there are none between High and Vine).
3. A crosswalk will be added at Veterans’ Way (near the CFA on Washington Street).
4. The faded crosswalks on Church and Cross streets will be repainted so drivers can see them.
In the long run, the crosswalks on campus will be switched to raised crosswalks (basically giant speedbumps) and medians will be added, which will force the street traffic to slow down in the most heavily trafficked areas.
In addition several important suggestions were made for student safety:
1. Use the crosswalks. This may seem obvious, but Connecticut law only gives pedestrians the right of way on marked crosswalks. If you walk out anywhere else on the street, cars are not legally required to let you pass.
2. At intersections, use the walk buttons. In many other places these buttons don’t work. In Middletown, they do. If you press the button, the walk signal will appear.
Awareness of pedestrians and motorists is the most important factor in preventing accidents. We’d like to thank Officer Elkin of the Middletown PD for his contribution to this Wespeak, as well as the other participants in Wednesday’s meeting, who are too numerous to list in this short space. Any suggestions for improving traffic safety may be addressed to gtabak@wesleyan.edu.
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