The construction of the new South Quad buildings — The SITE, the new School of Business and The Grove — has become Quinnipiac University’s pride and joy.
However, there’s no joy in the walk to the College of Arts and Sciences buildings, now that construction has taken over the original walkways. It shouldn’t be difficult to walk to class, but it’s not just the construction itself that’s at fault. It’s the students.
The new route to CAS follows the road from the CAS parking lot to the Hilltop parking lot, where there is obviously a lot of traffic. The pedestrian-only lane is a thin lane that cannot adequately fit the amount of students walking between classes. Sometimes students overlap and walk into the line of traffic. While the confined lane is the university’s fault, the behavior of some students is not.
It doesn’t help when students are stopping in the middle of the pedestrian lane and talking to one another during passing times between classes, taking up the whole lane. This causes students to unnecessarily stand in the road when there’s oncoming traffic. Not to mention, it’s adding time to a walk that some of us have to rush through anyway.
The walkers (or talkers) are not the only issue. I constantly see drivers on their phones while I’m walking. Texting and driving is bad enough already, but to do it in a space where traffic — both on foot and from vehicles — is already so hectic makes me wonder how these drivers passed driver’s ed, especially on days when it’s icy and slippery.
These students drive so recklessly that when my mom visited me a couple of weeks ago, I texted her to be cautious when she entered by CAS because I watched a driver use a speed bump as a launch ramp.
We’re all adults, and it’s sad that I’m seeing all of these things. Between forcing other students to stand in the road and reckless driving, someone is going to get hurt.
Be cautious when driving in such a packed and condensed lane, and be aware of others when you’re walking. No conversation is so important that you need to block the pedestrian lane or respond to a text while driving.
