City Council denies plea
Proposal for a crosswalk near the Annex shot down despite recent accident
Danger — Students regularly have to cross two lanes of traffic by intersection where Kung Jin Oh was hit in order to get to their destination. Photo credit: Josh Janney
The Lynchburg City Council has rejected Liberty University’s pleas for a crosswalk to be installed at the intersection of Odd Fellows Road and Albert Lankford Drive, despite growing concerns that the intersection is a safety risk for pedestrians who reside at the Annex dormitories.
The university sent a letter to Lynchburg City Manager Kimball Payne Oct. 17, stating an “urgent need” for a crosswalk. The request followed an accident that took place Oct. 15, in which a semi-truck hit 22-year-old Liberty student Kung Jin Oh at the intersection.
The accident placed Oh in critical condition and has reignited Liberty’s request for a crosswalk, which the school has been trying to get installed since late 2012. Liberty University General Counsel David Corry said he does not feel optimistic about the city council creating a crosswalk or another acceptable safety measure between the Annex buildings.
“Unfortunately, I do not have any reason for optimism yet,” Corry said. “The city’s position is that it will put up caution signs but no crosswalk. That’s no better than the warnings about potential deer crossing in an area.”
Brett Richter, a junior at Liberty University who used to live at the Annex, says many students at the Annex risk running across the intersection in order to make the bus in time. He believes the lack of a crosswalk makes an already dangerous situation even worse.
“I actually did almost get hit,” Richter said. “You would always see someone running out frantically missing the bus because they only come out every 20 minutes or so. I have actually witnessed people frantically trying to get across the street to the stop at the Annex, risking (their) lives running across a two-lane highway.”
According to Corry, a crosswalk could be installed and marked in less than a day. However, Payne conveyed doubts that creating a crosswalk will be an effective measure to ensure safety in his response letter to Liberty’s request.
“Our concerns today remain as they were then — that simply painting a crosswalk on Old Fellows Road and erecting warning signs will not enhance pedestrian safety and may lead to a false sense of security that could be counterproductive,” Payne wrote. “There are a number of factors, including limited site distance, poor
lighting and the geometry of the road network, that present challenges at this location and make a crosswalk, by itself, unsuitable.”
Payne explained that he would be willing to meet with Corry to develop a better solution to improve pedestrian safety.
“City staff still feels that the most appropriate approach would be a pedestrian-initiated traffic signal that would require vehicles to stop,” Payne wrote. “We acknowledge, however, that there may be other approaches that are consistent with best principles for traffic management.”
Some of those potential approaches the city is considering include a traffic study and consultation with the Virginia
Department of Transportation.
Corry believes those approaches may take too much time considering the number of students at risk. It will be almost a full year before the students housed in the Annex I and II will be moved on campus after the new dorm is completed.
Corry said Liberty has offered to pay the cost of marking the crosswalk and installing warning signs in order to ensure that the cost of implementing these measures is not a point of contention for the city. Currently, Liberty is implementing a five-minute shuttle bus between the two Annex facilities and redoubling efforts to get students to use them.
“(The efforts are) more encouragement for students in Annex II to use the shuttle busses and longer schedules for the busses to operate than previously offered so students can know they are available,” Corry said. “The encouragement comes in the form of hall meetings, personal encouragement from Resident Assistant Connects and Prayer and Life Group Leader Connects, signage, other announcements and emails. Unfortunately, initial ridership figures are disapprovingly low.”
Corry said that Oh is expected to recover from her accident and that the university is not planning on pursuing any legal action against the city for not responding to earlier pleas for the crosswalk.
Janney is the asst. news editor.