Lack of sidewalk threatens COM community
Ted Shapiro
Issue date: 12/9/09 Section: Letters to the Editor
At the College of Marin there exists a potentially fatal problem, which I believe is the college's responsibility to address. The problem I am speaking of is on the north side of campus where students and faculty are crossing Sir Francis Drake Boulevard without benefit of a crosswalk. Sir Francis Drake is a very busy street and crossing it without a crosswalk is dangerous. Students and faculty cross here in order to get to or from the parking lot and bus stop, which lie on the north side of Sir Francis Drake, opposite the campus.
While it is true that there are crosswalks about a block away in either direction, hardly anyone who rides the bus seems willing to walk an extra two blocks in order to arrive at a point which is just across the street. When I first started riding the bus to COM, I would walk all the way around to the crosswalk even though I never saw anyone else do it. However, after missing the bus once or twice because I had walked all the way around, I concluded that it wasn't worth it and began jaywalking like everyone else.
In addition to the bus riders, people who park in the east end of the parking lot also find themselves risking their lives to get across the street in order to get to class. My English instructor, Sandra Douglass, is one of them. On the website, Rate My Professor .com, Douglass is the top rated English instructor at COM. Wouldn't it be a shame to lose a teacher like this for the lack of a crosswalk?
It is true that Sir Francis Drake Boulevard lies within the jurisdiction of the County of Marin and, therefore, the College of Marin lacks the authority to put in a crosswalk. However, the college still has a responsibility to ensure the safety of its students and staff. If I complain to the county about the situation, it's not likely that anything will be done, but if the College of Marin recommends to the county that a crosswalk be installed, it is much more likely that something will be done.
The property on the south side of Sir Francis Drake at the point in question is part of the campus and the property on the north side is a COM parking lot. The people crossing the street are COM students and employees; doesn't the college have a duty to protect the lives of its people? I'm sure that if someone gets hurt or killed the lawyers will think so.
So let's not wait until someone does get hurt or killed before we do something about this problem; if someone is killed, no power on earth can bring that person back. Let's all speak out now, and let the relevant authorities on campus know that we want something done about this death trap right away. We must have a crosswalk or a pedestrian bridge over Sir Francis Drake Boulevard as soon as possible.
- Ted Shapiro
While it is true that there are crosswalks about a block away in either direction, hardly anyone who rides the bus seems willing to walk an extra two blocks in order to arrive at a point which is just across the street. When I first started riding the bus to COM, I would walk all the way around to the crosswalk even though I never saw anyone else do it. However, after missing the bus once or twice because I had walked all the way around, I concluded that it wasn't worth it and began jaywalking like everyone else.
In addition to the bus riders, people who park in the east end of the parking lot also find themselves risking their lives to get across the street in order to get to class. My English instructor, Sandra Douglass, is one of them. On the website, Rate My Professor .com, Douglass is the top rated English instructor at COM. Wouldn't it be a shame to lose a teacher like this for the lack of a crosswalk?
It is true that Sir Francis Drake Boulevard lies within the jurisdiction of the County of Marin and, therefore, the College of Marin lacks the authority to put in a crosswalk. However, the college still has a responsibility to ensure the safety of its students and staff. If I complain to the county about the situation, it's not likely that anything will be done, but if the College of Marin recommends to the county that a crosswalk be installed, it is much more likely that something will be done.
The property on the south side of Sir Francis Drake at the point in question is part of the campus and the property on the north side is a COM parking lot. The people crossing the street are COM students and employees; doesn't the college have a duty to protect the lives of its people? I'm sure that if someone gets hurt or killed the lawyers will think so.
So let's not wait until someone does get hurt or killed before we do something about this problem; if someone is killed, no power on earth can bring that person back. Let's all speak out now, and let the relevant authorities on campus know that we want something done about this death trap right away. We must have a crosswalk or a pedestrian bridge over Sir Francis Drake Boulevard as soon as possible.
- Ted Shapiro
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