Employees of the Clinical Center are not allowed to park on the adjacent parking lot, which is assigned exclusively to patients, but instead use the parking lot on the other side of Service Road. They face all kinds of situations making that painful crossing: rain, snow, wind, ice, etc. We, as employees of the Clinical Center and neighboring facilities, are happy to make these daily, multiple trips to provide the adjacent and safe parking lot for our patients. But there is another side of the story.
The issue is not the weather-related difficulties, nor the physical activity in making these daily, multiple walks across Service Road toward the parking lot. The issue is Service Road itself — this short stretch from Hagadorn Road to the west end of the employee parking lot I have alluded to above. Having been faculty in the College of Human Medicine since 2005, I have noticed the road is treated by “some” drivers as (literally) a remote, or deserted, speeding highway. It consists of a divided two and a half lanes both ways (the half lane is a bike lane, but a wide one, which adds to the appearance of a deserted highway).
Some drivers perhaps do not appreciate that there are buildings and people who work or study in the area because the buildings are quite far away from the street. This especially sets Service Road apart from other two-way wide roads in the inner side of campus where buildings are more crowded and speed limit signs, pedestrian signs and traffic lights are excessive. On this stretch of Service Road, there are no traffic lights and no other strong tools other than “Slow Down,” “Yield” and “30-Speed Limit” signs. It seems these signs do not appeal to some drivers.
It seems the problem stems from a psychological “false” sense of reassurance to drivers that it is safe to speed. Even sticking to the 30 mph speed limit is dangerous in my opinion, at least. Yes, of course, there are those kind drivers who would stop completely for us to cross, but there are those who just insist on passing fast, as if racing with pedestrians. Let alone the situations of rainy days when pedestrians waiting to cross get soaked by water splashes from racing drivers?
Even in the absence of any serious accident so far (yes, some might say that this has been the status quo for decades, without a single pedestrian accident), can we not be preemptive? Or will we only act when a tragedy occurs; when somebody dies or gets severely injured? And apart from the victim, such a tragedy will also ruin the life of the driver!
So, I conclude by appealing to the university’s relevant department(s) to reevaluate the traffic regulation on this stretch of Service Road, such as installing traffic lights, or other, more effective preventive measures. But until then, I ask that those drivers using this stretch, please really slow down, yield, live and let live.
Saleh Aldasouqi, associate professor of medicine and associate program director of the Endocrinology Fellowship Program
Support student media!
Please consider donating to The State News and help fund the future of journalism.
Discussion
Share and discuss “Service Road dangerous for all” on social media.
