By The Editors
For students living in the Netherlands, racing to class each day has been a game of Frogger, as they dart through the high-speed traffic on Hempstead Turnpike.
The busy roadway splitting the University in two has been ranked as one of the top five most dangerous on Long Island, according to the State Department of Transportation. One strip of the turnpike, stretching from Wolcott Road to Wantagh Avenue in Levittown was responsible for 803 accidents between October 1986 and October 1988, according to the State DOT reports.
This data is almost two decades old, but since then the level of traffic and the risk to pedestrians crossing the turnpike has risen, with more than 60 percent of accidents in the past few years involving people walking across the turnpike.
While the University has addressed this problem in the past by installing two unispans connecting the North and South sides of campus, many students who live at the Netherlands complex still resort to jaywalking to get to class. Aware of the problem, the University will begin installation of a third unispan this summer, a project that will cost approximately $5.3 million.
Unlike the second unispan, located near the McDonalds on Uniondale Avenue, students might actually use this one, however, one must ask whether it is worth the hefty price tag that comes with it.
These structures are convenient, they make the University more accessible and they offer students safer ways of getting to class on time and in one piece. However, is it that difficult to walk to the Student Center and use the existing unispan?
The stroll from the Netherlands to the Student Center is fairly short, especially when compared to students who live in Colonial Square.
Perhaps, Ed Bracht summed up the students at the University best. In an interview with The Chronicle last semester about the parking issue on campus he said the University has "a walking problem."
While the third unispan will add another bridge from the North and South sides of campus, it may leave the Netherlands less connected from the rest of the University.
Earlier this month, The Chronicle also reported that the Netherlands dorms will be converted to an all-freshmen residency starting this fall. The biggest challenge for freshmen is finding their niche and integrating themselves within the rest of the student body. The best place for students to learn about different clubs and events on campus is simply by walking through the student center on their way to class each day. By installing an alternate route to class, by nature, these freshman residents will spend much less time in the Student Center, which undoubtedly is the heart of the campus.
The Chronicle fully supports any effort by the administration to improve safety on campus, but as the University prepares to break ground on this new unispan they must be aware of these potential problems and take the appropriate course of action to ensure the Netherlands remains as much a part of the University as the rest of campus.