Joanne Glasser looks into her crystal ball: “We are truly a walkable campus”
The senior art history major [Elizabeth Albert] said one minute she was walking across University Street at its intersection with Bradley Avenue, and the next minute her body was smashed against a windshield, then lying on the street.” I hurt so bad, all I could do was just lie there,” she said.” I didn’t want to move because I didn’t know how badly I was injured.”
As it seems the local media doesn’t seem to care about the latest car vs Bradley pedestrian accident, I’m grateful that at least Bradley’s student newspaper, The Scout, did and put it on the front page.
According to the article, this latest accident has inspired some students to draw up a petition encouraging Bradley University to push the City of Peoria to install a four way stop sign … on FaceBook. That’s great, but it seems to me that they ought to stand on said corner with a clip board and a pad of paper and ask those who are crossing the street to sign it.
Albert is the third student to be hit at that intersection by a driver turning left [heading North on University from Bradley Avenue] in three years. Several students have also been hit at the intersection of Main and University streets and along Bradley Avenue, but the problem “hasn’t been overwhelming,” [University Police Chief Dave] Baer said.
If three students had been killed as a result of bouncing off of windshields, would that be considered “overwhelming”?
City traffic engineer Nick Stoffer says change likely “is not going to happen, but adds that the area will looked at again as part of a new Main & University area traffic study.
In a personal evaluation of the intersection, student Stephanie Falash, says this:
“I can confidently say that while walking to and from class, I have at least one close call with a driver every day, if not more. I didn’t know this would be such a problem when I first moved into St. James.”
In a strange moment of cosmic karma, Bradley President Joanne Glasser, as reported in the same issue of The Scout, gave a speech reflecting back from 25 years in the future.
“We are truly a walkable campus,” she said of the future. “And that has gotten Bradley a lot of national attention.”
Ms. Glasser, this would be a good starting point.
April 13th, 2008 at 2:46 am
PI,I drove through the Bradley area a few times today. After the recent horrific incidents and reading your corresponding blog entries, I realized how dangerous it really is for the students. There are a ridiculous number of blind corners and unsafe crossings. All of the streets around Campustown are full of blind corners created by streetside parking and offset stop signs. It’s almost a miracle that more people haven’t been hurt.
April 13th, 2008 at 12:54 pm
I think Mr. Stoffer needs to be educated on the traffic issues in the area and that residents need to loudly express issues of concern to the City. I’ll sign their petition, gladly.
April 13th, 2008 at 6:23 pm
I looked this location up on Microsoft Live Maps, which zooms in better than Google for this location. You could possibly do a pedestrian bridge joining the south sidewalk along West St. James St. to the west sidewalk along University near where you turn into Bradley at that light. This would eliminate that little dead end piece of road of North Bourland and nix some of green berm landscaping just north of Underhill apartments.
http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCP&cp=40.697545~-89.61138&style=h&lvl=18&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=27375976&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&encType=1
April 14th, 2008 at 10:46 am
Good lord, I hated the traffic in that whole area. And the problem extended beyond walking on the sidewalks for me. Hell, whenever I would sit by the window at One World I would feel uneasy, like a car could come crashing through the wall at any minute. You know it’s going to happen one day, especially with some of the shady types and college kids who cruise that area stoned out of their minds.
April 14th, 2008 at 4:05 pm
First and foremost, I would like to point out what a gross semi-offensive generalization Billy Bob’s “stoner” comment is.
That being said, I agree that the entire place is a scary area. I also think that a skywalk or some sort of “bridge” would be a semi-inexpensive way of getting to one of the streets and could even add a little bit of a decorative aesthetic to the BU campus. As a recent BU grad, I find it disappointing that so many of my former classmates are dealing with this (even though I had to as well). I think that the image of BU should be safety and that quality of safety should be maintained.
April 15th, 2008 at 8:00 am
Great map. Very current and really shows the area in question well.
April 15th, 2008 at 8:08 am
Michael,
As a person who frequented the area extensively from 1997 to about 2004 and meeting more than a handful of folks who openly use marijuana and are proud of it, allow me to express my complete lack of concern for you taking “semi-offense” at my comment. Nothing I said was offensive. If I would have said “All the college students and G-Dawgs in the Bradley area are total potheads,” that would have been offensive, but alas, that’s not what I said.
Not that I owe you an explanation, I’m just a nice guy.
If you’re going to be a pestering member of the PC police, please only pester those who make comments that actually are offensive.
Billy.
April 15th, 2008 at 11:15 am
The number of bongs I have seen around campus, on and off, this school year has been amazing. Back when I was in school (not Bradley) those would have been seized by campus police right quick, pot or not. Now no one seems to care much.
April 15th, 2008 at 11:25 am
PeoriaIllinoisan, please forgive me for taking such a huge chunk of your comment section, but I think this is worth it. I had a coffee break and I thought I’d follow the link to Michael Davis’ blog. After somehow being offended by my “stoner comment,” I was expecting to find the musings of your typical P.C. college student activist. However, I was shocked when I discovered not only was this not the case, but there is content on his blog most folks would consider downright offensive. One story about the nicknames of himself and one of his friends took the cake:
>>My nickname was “Cheech” and I had given [my friend] the nickname “Porch Monkey.” [...] However, as most people know, this is a racial slur that is quite derogatory to African Americans. The reason for the nickname was a funny story that Dirk had told me about his Dad. [...] The story was comical between Dirk and I so I gave him that nickname.
Michael, Michael, Michael. If you are going to call people out for being “offensive,” don’t you think it’s hypocritical to fondly reminisce about your childhood friend’s epithet nickname? I know you were probably a teenager who didn’t have a clue when you bestowed the name upon your friend, but now that you are a college graduate don’t you think blogging about it is a little inappropriate? If it were me, I would forget that little tidbit about my childhood as quickly as possible.
I left Peoria and moved to a real metropolitan community, you know, one with over a million people, and I’ve had the chance to befriend, or at least become casual aquaintences with, some African Americans. I must say your blog post is about as offensive as it gets.
April 15th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
My humble apologies, Billy. I state many times within that particular post that my intention was of complete ignorance and mockery of a funny childhood story between my close friend and I. I do apologize if it offends you personally.
As for my personal beliefs, my honest and openness about my life is what pervades my blog and what drives people to read it. I have many friends who are of many different descents and I find it quite easy to be friends with just about everyone. Anyone who knows me personally would agree to that. The ignorance was on the side of my friend’s father, which, in turn, led to my ignorance. There again, you left out the part of the blog story where I admitted the errors of my ways, apologized, and respectfully learned my lesson. I do not use that nickname for my friend anymore.
As for yesterday’s little “battle,” my apologies as well for misreading what I thought was a generalization. Too often in this day and age does my generation get a little too generalized and I take that to heart as a strong, independent, and very knowledgeable 22 year old. Yes, some of my posts on my blog are childish and some do point to some ignorance on my part, but once again, my blog is all about growth and learning and to help those around us voice their concerns in the hopes to better understand one another.
I wasn’t trying to be the PC police by any means. In fact, as is the case with my blog, I try to avoid the PC realm as much as possible. Not to be offensive, but to point out how people can jump on others for simple, blinded mistakes such as the one I made.
Once again, my apologies to you.
April 15th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
Hindsight is 20/20 as always, Billy. I have removed the above mentioned post. My blog probably isn’t the time and place for a post like that. Another lesson learned.
April 15th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
Hey, it’s all good man. I was just shocked after seeing that story after you called me out for being offensive. I was expecting your blog to be about free trade coffee and sweatshops.
I, too, apologize for going a little overboard. I wasted 15 min of my lunch break on that second post. Lame.
Thanks for apologizing, and you too have my apologies. Done and Done.
Billy.
April 15th, 2008 at 12:51 pm
No worries. Do stop by the JAT Continuum and leave us your thoughts. Not all the posts are that bad
April 15th, 2008 at 2:40 pm
Michael and Billy Bob: Put a stick in it will you, tired of seeing your comments!
April 16th, 2008 at 8:17 am
RomanII,
As opposed to what, the gems of wisdom you bring to the table?
April 28th, 2008 at 4:05 pm
Morton: You are right, I just read, not write. It’s not fair for two persons to have their own world war at the expense of those of us who try to learn something from these blogs. Sorry if I offended you!