On the Ryan Crosswalks

Gillian Mazur, Sports Editor

Many people, students included, love to complain.

There is one issue that every Mercyhurst student has ranted about, and that is the speed of the cars on campus and the lack of crosswalks on campus.

I like to consider myself a very observant person by nature.

A few weeks ago I noticed two of the newest installations on campus: two signs on both sides of Briggs Avenue that say, “Please Use Crosswalk at Nearest Intersection.”

I understand that Mercyhurst cannot add crosswalks on Briggs because it is owned by the city of Erie and not Mercyhurst.

However, I doubt that these two measly signs will fix anything.

There are three main reasons why the signs are essentially useless and nothing more than a lawn decoration.

One reason is that the majority of foot traffic is students coming to and from Ryan Hall on the sidewalk that passes the Audrey Hirt Academic Center.

Over 300 students live in Ryan, and I highly doubt that anyone, including myself, is going to take the extra time to walk to the nearest crosswalk in the cold.

Ryan’s dining hall and convenience store also bring in a lot of students, increasing the number of people not using the crosswalk because it is so far out of the way.

Furthermore, the actual crosswalk derails from the closest, most time-saving direct path between Ryan and Hirt.

Lastly, the signs are useless because cars fail to stop at the crosswalks anyways despite the signs and crosswalk lines.

If anything, the location of the actual crosswalk is more dangerous because cars do not stop and can either come speeding down a hill or making a sharp turn from East 41st St onto Briggs.

At least between the path of Ryan and Hirt, there are only two directions that cars can come from as opposed to the four at the intersection between 41st and Briggs.

There are many places and instances where I and my fellow peers have almost been hit by a car at Mercyhurst.

However, I do not blame the school.

It just so happens that Erie owns the roads and controls what can be placed where.

Additionally, there are signs such as stop signs that drivers just ignore.

Life is busy, I understand that.

But student drivers and other members of the Erie community always seem to be in such a rush.

To avoid speeding, perhaps drivers should leave their house earlier?

Maybe the only way to have drivers stop would be to start ticketing and pulling people over so people learn that you do not speed on a college campus.

Drivers should consider the fact that a college campus is full of pedestrians.

It seems like the only possible way to avoid being squashed for now is to wait until all the cars pass.