Walking everyday across the busy main road, Fort George Wright Drive, is a scary trek to make on the way to school. Understandably, there is not many that this affects. But as one of the students who have to cross the road twice per day, it’s a big deal.

Crossing in the morning at the same time many people are driving to work is a trepidations act all by itself. Then again in the afternoon, when the buses run and many young drivers are exiting the school campus to drive home is just as difficult.

The road has two lanes going each way and a downhill curve so you can’t see very far for upcoming cars. There’s a bus route that goes every 15 minutes which makes the road a hard thing to deal with in the early morning and mid-afternoon. As winter approaches and the roads get slicker and slicker, this only makes the jog across the busy road worse but also plays into the fact that more cars will have a harder time breaking quickly or driving safely on an icy road.

An added crosswalk to the road where campus traffic can turn onto Fort George Wright Drive  at the stoplight would be an added benefit for students who don’t have cars or are in walking distance to campus.

“Pedestrian crossings are areas designated for foot traffic, that are intended to increase pedestrian safety and facilitate the flow of vehicular traffic. They are absolutely vital in maintaining order in the streets and protecting both drivers and pedestrians on the road,” as reported online by RoadTrafficSigns, a safety sign manufacturer.

For those who don’t have to cross, this doesn’t seem like such an issue.

“I don’t think that’s necessary, and I heard that the crosswalk by the bus stop would be removed once the station in the parking lot is done,” said Tucker Boniface, an SFCC student who drives to school. “There really isn’t anything on the other side that need to get to, aside from the bus stop and the bus stop is moving soon.” But here are some facts: The speed limit on the road is 35 mph and “a car going 35 miles per hour needs between 85 feet and 136 feet of stopping distance,” according to the National Association of City Transportation. “This is only on dry perfect condition roads.”

“The overall stopping distances are doubled for wet roads and multiplied by ten for snow and icy conditions,” said the West Schools of Motoring.

That means cars that are going the speed limit need roughly 850 to 1,360 feet of stopping distance to not hit a student that they might not see on foggy winter mornings. This is far too great a distance for it to be considered safe.

“I am aware of several traffic collision in the area of the crosswalk in my time here at SFCC (the last eight years),” said Ken DeMello, the director of the office of campus safety. Some of these collisions have involved pedestrians crossing the street. 

Making it across the road is dangerous in more ways than one, not just watching for cars and having to cross at perfectly timed pauses, but also having to illegally jaywalk across to get to school on time. Spokane has a law that “makes jaywalking a punishable offense…” The Spokesman Review reported in June 2018.

The few who are unlucky to have to cross the road, are either stuck walking up or down the road quite a ways to the nearest crosswalk, or jaywalking across. That could add an extra 15 minutes either way to their walking commute. Making mornings more stressful and unsafe than it  needs to be is an unhealthy habit for any student. 

This is an unsafe practice that should be looked at with new eyes and perhaps fixed in the near future. The city of Spokane should care for and protect their citizens and students who work hard day in and day out to better themselves and their community.