Current Issues in Journalism

A safer crossing of a sidewalk that goes along Iowa Street and across the bridge on Irving Hill Road is definitely needed to prevent pedestrians from being harmed.

When crossing the street, pedestrians face an inherent danger due to not having a crosswalk that would provide safety as they walk along the road. This also presents a danger to oncoming motorists who have a tough time seeing that there is a sidewalk there. The sidewalk comes at steep angle and can be hard to recognize due to the changing curving of the road near the bridge. At night, its especially dangerous since cars go speeding by and can’t see the sidewalk until they are almost at it.

One of those pedestrians who agrees that a crosswalk would be beneficial along Irving Hill Road is Kansas student Scott James, who is a frequent runner along the sidewalk trail of Iowa Street. “I go running past this spot all of the time at night and I have to be very alert because cars go flying past, not even realizing that there might be people trying to cross the street. I have almost got hit on a couple of occasions,” James said. James can be reached by phone at (913) 205-8253.

To get this problem fixed, I contacted the KU Department of Public Safety and I was directed to Captain Bailey. Bailey made a statement about the general rule for when a crosswalk is needed, but then said that he would need to look more closely at a rule book before being quoted on the issue. I will follow the issue up with him after he gets a chance to look over the rules. Captain Bailey can be reached by phone at (785) 864-5906.

As James finishes talking with me, he left me with one final remark. “I just hope they add a crosswalk or at least a cross sign, because someday someone is going to get hit, and then it will be too late.”