Pedestrian crossing now installed at train tracks

By Nick Phillips
Editor

March 15, 2012

Photo by Nick Phillips

A train passes through campus recently as the newly installed pedestrian crossing sits in the foreground.

A new pedestrian crossing has been installed to allow those walking or riding in wheel chairs to safely get across the train tracks that separate parking lots 1 and 2 from the rest of the UNCP campus.

In a story originally published in the Jan. 26 edition of The Pine Needle, the project dealt with three different entities - the University, CSX railroad and the NCDOT - who have worked together on projectsin the past, including the reconfiguring of parking lots 1 and 2 last summer.

Assistant Vice Chancellor for Facility and Management Steve Martin said that the newest project to install the pedestrian crosswalk was not in the University's control and that it was a NCDOT project.

In the Jan. 26 edition of The Pine Needle, Martin said that the design plans called for a pedestrian crossing area that crossed over the railroad tracks and onto the sidewalk in front of Mary Livermore Library, which is exactly where the new crossing now sits.

Construction on the crosswalk began in the days before spring break, with the work being completed over the break.

The new crossing was viewed as a positive.

"I think that it's a welcome addition. It's now going to be much safer to walk," Student Government President Brian McCormick said.

Chancellor Kyle R. Carter echoed the idea of safety while reminding that the crossing has "always been in the plans" but had never been finished.

Dr. Diane Jones, vice chancellor of Student Affairs, said that the new crossing "definitely helps the safety" for those walking around the train tracks.

McCormick said he hopes the University's attention now shifts to adding a pedestrian crossing on Odum Road that would allow students from Commons apartments to safely get onto campus.

"It's not very safe there at all," he said.

He added that the University now has more traffic crossing the street since moving offices to Carter and Lindsay Halls during previous semesters.

Photo by Hillary Akers

Workers with NCDOT begin construction to install a sidewalk and crosswalk across the train tracks that separate parking lots 1 and 2 from the rest of campus.