By Saira Bajwa
The construction of the new pedestrian bridge, which connects the Netherlands to the campus’s south side, has not completely altered the dangerous route many freshmen take to class each morning. It has garnered support with many students, but they still do not always choose the bridge over crossing at the traffic light.
While groups of students cross Hempstead Turnpike on a daily basis, most agree that they choose between the unispan and the turnpike depending on traffic and the weather.
“This is the first time I’ve walked across the road instead of using the unispan, only because I got to the intersection at just the right moment,” said Paul, who did not give his last name, a sophomore who has class in the Netherlands complex.
Hempstead Turnpike is a busy thoroughfare which was ranked by the Department of Transportation as the fifth most dangerous road in the state of New York. Noted by Newsday as one of the “fatal five” in the past, risks to pedestrians have risen. The Hempstead Turnpike and Oak Street intersection is where the road becomes a state highway and the speed limit changes from 35 mph to 50 mph-making it tricky to cross. The heavy presence of trucks taking left turns onto Oak Street also adds to the hazards.
Several freshmen who live in the Netherlands complex routinely use the unispan and believe the money is well spent-but the $4.6 million project was not paid for solely by the University.
“New York State gave a $1 million grant to Hofstra for the construction of a unispan over the dangerous thoroughfare,” said Melissa Connolly, the vice president of University Relations. This is due, in part, to the high accident rate on Hempstead Turnpike, making the unispan a risk-reducing addition.
Although some students wonder if this new addition was truly worth the cost, freshman Rachel Flat believes the unispan is extremely useful for getting to class.
“The unispan takes me straight from this side of campus to Weed Hall,” Flat said. “It’s also really useful at night, because it’s especially hard to cross Hempstead [Turnpike] at that time.”
However, there is a concern that the unispan may leave freshmen disconnected with the rest of the campus if they bypass the Student Center, the heart of the University, where most clubs and offices post events and announcements. Flat agrees that this can become a problem and usually makes an effort to use the main Student Center unispan whenever convenient.
Connolly acknowledges that feeling disconnected can become a problem, but suggests the new unispan is not meant to replace the Student Center walkway.
“When students were taking a risk and crossing Hempstead Turnpike, we had to do everything possible to make the crossing safer,” said Connolly. The unispan not only serves as a safe alternative to darting across the street, it is also an attempt to make the campus more “accessible, vibrant and cohesive.”
Plans are underway to add signs around the campus to encourage students to use the unispan instead of crossing the busy intersection.

The new unispan goes unused by many students crossing the Hempstead Turnpike from the Netherlands. (Jeff Herman)