As I was walking on campus today my ears I heard a horrible sound that I hadn’t experienced since last fall. It struck fear into my heart. What was that sound? The sound of a skateboard slowing down on the hill next to the Eccles building. The grinding scraping noise reminded me of something that over the winter I had blissfully forgotten: the danger of bikes and skateboards on campus.
I should probably start with a disclaimer that I am in no way against bikes, skateboards, and electric scooters on campus; I’m just terrified for the riders and the pedestrians. During the fall, which was my first semester on the University of Utah campus, I was absolutely shocked by the number of near accidents I witnessed between bikers and pedestrians particularly on the hill between Gardner Commons and the Eccles building. Once you get used to the near collisions it seems almost normal, but the reality is that I’ve been to other college campuses before, and I’ve never seen a group of pedestrians so oblivious nor a group of bikers, skateboarders, and “scooterers” moving so quickly.
A lot of the problem probably stems from the fact that campus is on a massive hill which means that people are moving quickly not only because they have to get to class but also because of gravity. I think that the area between Gardner Commons and the Eccles building all the way down to the area by the Behavioral Science buildings needs a revamp when it comes to bike and walking paths.
The University has done a great job providing us with those paths, but I think in those areas they just aren’t working to create a safe flow of transportation for riders and pedestrians.
The screeching of skateboards is a silly thing to be annoyed about even if it does grate on my ears, but the bigger issue is that we as a community need to be more aware of one another whether we’re on a bike or walking. I think it’s great that people have started to bike and skateboard on campus again because of the warmer weather, but we also need to discuss as a community whether there is some way we can improve areas the campus to make it safer for everyone involved.
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