‘Heads up’: New signs around campus aim to alert pedestrians
One of the new “heads up, phones down” signs at Cathedral Place. The signs appeared all over campus this fall as part of the university’s pedestrian safety initiative. Photo by Jerry Pleasant III.
Molly Manning, Contributing Writer
VCU has introduced new efforts to protect pedestrians and students, including yellow signs on campus with the messages “heads up, phones down” and “look both ways.”
Pedestrian safety is the number one safety concern for students, faculty and staff of VCU after two students were killed last year in traffic on Laurel and West Main, according to VCU News.
“I’d definitely say that’s probably a big concern just because of how many people there are and how fast the drivers drive,” Taylor Wilson, a first-year forensic science student, said.
Wilson said she feels the new signs will at least provide a more definitive marker of where sidewalks end and intersections or streets begin, “especially for freshmen who don’t quite know where the streets stop and end.”
A VCU Pedestrian Safety Study was published in September 2023 by Kimley-Horn, an engineering consultant based in Richmond. The study includes recommendations to improve safety through the use and installation of infrastructure such as speed tables, “No Turn On Red” signage and curb extensions.
Following the report, the city of Richmond installed 13 speed tables on high-traffic streets and 14 “No Turn On Red” signs at intersections near the Monroe Park campus, according to VCU News. Speed tables, which are long, flat speed bumps, are found to reduce car crashes by up to 64%, according to the Federal Highway Administration.
These speed tables have proven effective on the VCU campus, according to Brian McNeill, VCU’s director of public relations. McNeill shared that on West Cary, the speed tables reduced the top recorded speeds from 91, 85, 78, 65 and 57 mph in January 2023 to 56, 48, 47, 46 and 43 mph in March 2024.
VCU Police have also done pedestrian safety outreach around campus in the past, including passing out flyers that have the message “stop, look, cross” and educating pedestrians about safety concerns such as navigating crosswalks, according to VCU News.
Fourth-year interdisciplinary studies student Charley LaPlume said she hasn’t taken much notice of the new additions for signage and infrastructure, but that having a lot of other people walking around makes her feel safer.
“They’re probably good for some people to pay attention to. I think I’m a very alert person in general, but I guess those features are nice to have,” said LaPlume.
As far as safety, LaPlume said she heard many stories of people getting in accidents on Broad Street.
“I have seen a lot of people riding scooters and such in the streets, the streets are also pretty narrow so I feel like that doesn’t help,” LaPlume said.
VCU and the city have planned additional speed tables for Harrison, Cherry and Laurel Streets, and are investigating more possible locations for additional speed tables and curb extensions, according to McNeill.
Mayor Levar Stoney allocated $21 million of the 2024 fiscal budget to focus on slowing and “calming” traffic, according to VPM News.
Second-year communication arts student Nick Heath said he hopes the new signage will make pedestrians take a second to think about not using their phones. He feels that because he is conscious as a pedestrian, safety is not a large concern for him.
“I do hope that it gets some people to maybe think for a second about having their phone out while they are crossing the street,” Heath said.
