Village construction creates student safety concerns

Heavy pedestrian traffic near the new Village construction site on Jefferson Boulevard and Hoover Street could cause accidents, according to the Dept. of Public Safety.

Construction barriers have eliminated the sidewalk on the west side of Hoover Street and much of McClintock Avenue. DPS Deputy Chief David Carlisle said the department is concerned that pedestrians walking in the street on such a busy road have an increased chance of injury.

“We are worried that students could be struck,” Carlisle said. “During some peak hours, students will start walking along that sidewalk and then keep going in the street.”

DPS Chief John Thomas said the sidewalk could remain closed for the three-year duration of the Village construction project. DPS is hoping to educate students early on so that they understand this is not the intersection that they were familiar with before, and they should adjust their travel habits accordingly. He added that DPS is hoping to reopen the sidewalk before the completion of construction.

“The biggest concern is any time you have pedestrians walking in the same roadway as cars traveling and particularly if the students’ backs are to the cars, it’s never good,” Thomas said. “You’re only talking about a two-lane highway — two lanes going south on that side — and if you’ve got pedestrians in one lane that means you’ve just reduced that to a one-lane highway. As vehicles are coming around the corner potentially there are blind spots, and they could potentially hit a student.”

In August, DPS sent out an email to students that included a map of the construction site. The email warned that it was unsafe for pedestrians to walk along these areas where there is no sidewalk access.

People who walk in the street are in violation of California Vehicle Code 21956a and could be fined up to $196. It is legal for bicyclists to use the street, but not for skateboarders because a person on a skateboard is considered a pedestrian under the law.

“Should LAPD South Traffic Bureau be in the area on patrol or if they respond to complaints, they could cite you,” Carlisle said. “They don’t cite into student judicial affairs, they cite into court, which fines people and with court costs associated with the fine. Typically it’s over $200.”

One of DPS’s largest concerns is a pedestrian getting injured on game day when there are large crowds.

“We’re hoping through education to let students know to not walk in the street where it’s hazardous,” Carlisle said. “Our goal is to prevent a collision from occurring and injuring a student. We are going to see how that works this Saturday, which is a game day, and try to monitor that.”

According to Carlisle, Capital Construction, which is employed by USC, is considering putting some of the money in the project budget toward buying a portable message board to warn people not to walk in the street and to use the other side.

Areas on and near campus have been closed before due to construction, and Carlisle said DPS previously posted officers along McClintock during the remodeling of the Uytengsu Aquatic Center. He added that it is more difficult to control pedestrian traffic on public streets near The Village’s construction.

Carlisle said that the City of Los Angeles and the university worked to remove the diagonal crosswalks at the intersection of Jefferson Boulevard and Hoover Street because they wanted to discourage people from crossing over to the north corner.

Thomas said there have yet to be any collisions reported near the construction site, and DPS is hoping to keep it that way by keeping students on the sidewalks.

“Our biggest concern is the safety of the students. Any time you’ve got pedestrians and bikes and skateboards in the same roadway, it’s just a recipe for disaster,” he said.