Vanderbilt University released a video highlighting five efforts it has taken to “increase pedestrian safety on and around campus.”
The university’s video comes days after Jillian Ludwig, an 18-year-old freshman at Belmont University, died after being struck and killed by a stray bullet while walking near campus in Nashville.
Vanderbilt first highlighted its renovation of the West End neighborhood, which used to be “filled with cars and parking lots,” into a “park-like setting which allows only pedestrians and bikers.”
The university also highlighted its yearly review of the campus where a group of students, faculty, and staff join the university’s public safety department and the Department of Transportation and Mobility in walking the campus during nighttime to “identify any lighting concerns, tripping hazards, or any other recommendations throughout the campus.”
Citing studies that have shown “almost half of fatal pedestrian crashes occur after dark, on streets with little or no street lighting,” Vanderbilt also highlighted its installation of a specially enhanced crosswalk with push-button lights on 25th Avenue and Kensington Place.
“It was the first of its kind in Nashville – now you can find installations of similar crosswalks in more locations throughout the city,” the university touted in a press release.
The university highlighted its continued work on the Walk and Roll Loop – with parts currently under construction – a “wide and comfortable loop encircling campus that promotes active transportation and recreation and will connect Vanderbilt with the surrounding city.”
Vanderbilt also acknowledged more projects in the works focused on improving pedestrian safety, including an esplanade around the newly renovated Kirkland Hall with pedestrian-centric accessibility and connection to the Walk and Roll loop, as well as the transformation of the new Frist Athletics Village, which includes closing Jess Neely Drive to vehicles to make way for a pedestrian and bicycle-friendly greenway.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “Vanderbilt University Students” by University of Vanderbilt.
