The Murray State News TheNews.org
Aug. 30, 2013
Vol. 88, No. 3
‘Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over’
Study to reveal crosswalk safety 15th Street near campus currently lacks crosswalks - where they were present last semester Meghann Anderson News Editor manderson22@murraystate.edu
During the summer, 15th Street, from Olive to Main Streets, was repaved - fixing potholes and other road issues. When students returned to campus, they noticed another change to the street – no more crosswalks. Ron Albritten, street superintendent of Murray, said the city is studying 15th Street to decide if crosswalks will be repainted. Currently, hoses are laid across the street counting cars, their speed, direction of travel and other data to be used for the traffic engineering study. “You can’t just paint a crosswalk on the street and that be enough,” Albritten said. “When you paint a midblock crosswalk like that, what you’re doing is saying this is the safest place to cross. You have to determine what makes it the safest place to cross.” He said there was no traffic engineering study when the crosswalks were originally placed on 15th Street. Albritten said studies are required for midblock crosswalks to make sure everything meets the requirements and warrants for where a pedestrian crosswalk should go. “What we’re doing is getting a traffic study to see if they will be recommended to be put back in and where they would be recommended to be put back in,” Albritten said. “There is a chance that none of the crosswalks be put back in. Studies have been done for years, and the common misperception is a crosswalk improves safety. Studies have shown that is not always true.” He said often pedestrians do not look before they enter a street, because they think just because a cross-
Jesse Nelson Contributing writer jnelson7@murraystate.edu
vendors have been selling produce at the hospital. This on-campus farmer’s market is basically an extension of that.” The farmer’s market on campus will be in the driveway behind the Applied Sciences building, and the market at the Murray-Calloway County Hospital is located in the Poplar Street parking area, across from the Center for Health and Wellness. “We’re going to try September and see where we go from there,” Welch said. “Part of the problem is there is a policy on campus that a vendor can only have three days of commerce per semester. I had originally planned to do the whole month and then discovered that policy.” Welch said he is going to talk with officials at the University to see if he can work around the policy. “But I can understand it, they don’t
Officers will be scattered throughout the streets of Murray over the next few weeks to make sure people who have been consuming alcohol are not behind the wheel. The Murray Police Department is participating in the national DUI awareness program, Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over, next week while Murray State is using AlcoholEdu, an alcohol educational program for first-year students. The Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over initiative is using a national ad campaign with the slogan, “They’ll see you before you see them,” to warn drivers of the consequences of driving intoxicated. The program requires local law enforcement to be out in increased numbers and to be more visible during the Labor Day holiday period. Sgt. Dave Howe, public relations director for the Murray Police Department, said drunk driving is simply not worth the risk and officers will be looking for violators. “Research has shown that highvisibility enforcement like the ‘Drive Sober or get Pulled Over’ campaign reduces alcohol-impaired driving fatalities by as much as 20 percent,” Howe said. “By joining this nationwide effort, we will make Murray’s roadways safer for everyone throughout the Labor Day period”. According to a press release from the Murray Police Department, the police will be aggressively looking for impaired drivers during the crackdown and will arrest anyone caught driving impaired. The Murray Police Department plans on having up to 12 roadblocks spread across the city. “On average there is one alcohol impaired driving-related fatality every 53 minutes across America,” Howe said. “But this tragic loss of life can be reduced if we get impaired drivers off our roadways”. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, on average, 138 people die during Labor Day weekend in car accidents involving alcohol. Approximatly 10,000 people die yearly due to alcohol involved accidents. Local authorities want to emphasize the other consequences that students face with a DUI charge. Howe said he wanted to remind students that violators face jail time, loss of their drivers licenses and steep financial consequences such as higher insurance rates, attorney fees, court cost, lost time at work and the potential loss of his or her job. “Obviously we want to remind everyone that it is illegal to drive impaired and we hope the campaign will remind people that if they plan on drinking, to never get behind the wheel,” Howe said. “But if someone does choose to drive impaired, we will arrest them. No warnings. No excuses.” Murray State, with money allocated by the city of Murray, is making an effort, with AlcoholEdu, to lower the number of drunk drivers on the road by edu-
see MARKET, 2A
see SOBER, 2A
Lori Allen/The News
A student crosses 15th Street, which is completely void of crosswalks from Main Street to the University gates.
FOLLOW THE NEWS Follow us @MurrayStateNews for regular updates on future action regarding 15th Street crosswalks. walk is there, it makes it safer. “We’re having people step right out in traffic,” Albritten said. “Motorists and pedestrians alike do not understand the pedestrian laws. Even if the pedestrian legally has the right of way, they have a responsibility to stop.” He said the city is trying to work with the Occupational Health and Safety classes at the University to see if they can assist with collecting the
College Courts renovations to continue in near future
date for the pedestrian study. Interim President Tim Miller said he has received several emails from faculty members reporting the danger of the situation and their concern about students and drivers. “Students are crossing wherever they can,” Miller said. “The students need to be careful because of the drivers and the drivers need to be careful because of the students.” Since 15th Street is a city-owned street, the University has no control over the lack of crosswalks. “The city is responsible for painting those crosswalks,” Miller said. “We have been in contact with them because we know this a serious issue. We feel like they are going to do
Ben Manhanke Assistant News Editor bmanhanke@murraystate.edu
Renovations that began in July will continue during the course of the academic year for College Courts. Kim Oatman, Murray State’s chief facilities officer, said improvements to College Courts are made as funds become available and that scheduled routine maintenance is performed throughout the year. The work started this summer was made possible by funds allocated from an agency bond Facilities Management received in
The Burrito Shack
Wilson Hall Hughes Street
University Drive
Sparks Hall
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15th Street 15th Street, in front of Pogue Library, was repaved over summer to fill potholes. In the process, several crosswalks were covered and have not been repainted. Evan Watson/The News
see CROSSWALK, 2A
March, the result of the Feb r u a r y signing of House Bill 7 by Gov. S t e v e Beshear. House Bill 7 allows universities to Oatman self-fund projects on their campuses instead of depending on state funding. Murray received $15.4 million dollars as a result of this signing, $4.9 million of which was set aside for assorted facilities im-
provements, which include those made to College Courts this summer and $590,000 of which was specifically to be used in the installation of new sprinkler systems. The remaining $9.9 million dollars is for the renovations of Hester Residential College. “At a time when we are pushing our students to pursue higher education, it’s imperative that they have adequate classrooms, housing and facilities, and the issuance of these bonds will accelerate those projects to meet those needs quickly,”
see RENOVATION, 2A
Downtown Saturday Market will visit campus Meghann Anderson News Editor manderson22@murraystate.edu
Lori Allen/The News
Maxine Pool of Murray purchases fresh vegetables from Wurth Farms.
Students looking to buy fresh farm produce no longer have to go downtown on Saturday mornings, but instead can stay on campus. The Downtown Saturday Market, which is a part of the Murray Main Street organization, is coming to Murray State for three days during September. The farmer’s market will be Sept. 3, 10 and 17 from 2:30 – 6 p.m. Mark Welch, director of community relations, said Murray Main Street has grown sustainably in the last couple of years, so it was looking for new ways to reach out to community members and students, so the idea of selling on campus came about. “They’ve been trying to work on moving the farmer’s market off downtown,” Welch said. “This month several
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