MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The West Virginia University Student Government Association (SGA) has called for more collaboration with the City of Morgantown to address sidewalk safety around campus.

WVU SGA Local Governance Liaison Mimi Ferguson and SGA Senator Kate Magrogan presented details to city officials on their most recent biannual Safety and Accessibility walk that took place in October as part of the Morgantown City Council’s monthly committee of the whole. Information that ranged from where sidewalks are needed to be fixed, pedestrian crossing signals that are damaged, and where lighting can be improved around campus, where WVU SGA representatives also announced that a resolution was signed by the student body encouraging WVU and city officials to expand on pedestrian safety efforts that have taken place over the past several years.

“On the 11th of December, WVU SGA passed an assembly resolution to encourage WVU administration and local officials to address the concerns identified in the fall 2024 Safety and Accessibility Walk,” said Ferguson to the council on what the resolution entailed.

According to Ferguson and Magrogan, the fall 2024 rendition of the SGA Student Safety Walk included officials from the City of Morgantown as well as the WVU student body and focused on the Sunnyside neighborhood along with areas around the WVU Health Sciences Center. Of the over 70 students who participated in the walk or the survey that was a part of it, the majority reported areas around Grant Avenue, McClane Avenue, and the pedestrian crossing that leads to the WVU Life Sciences building were in most need of sidewalk renovations. This was included with calls to improve lighting on portions of sidewalks and to fix pedestrian crossing signals.

“So some of the general takeaways that we found were that there was a lot of sidewalk maintenance that needs to be done, especially on the Sunnyside campus,” said Magrogan, who organized the fall student safety walk. “Grant (Avenue) was the worst, as far as sidewalks (are concerned),” she said.

For areas around the WVU Health Sciences Center, accessibility improvements for sidewalks entering the J.W. Ruby Memorial Medical Center was another area the SGA encouraged city and university officials to address. While there were sidewalk renovations that were pointed out heading from the Health Sciences Center towards the WVU Evansdale Towers residences, certain areas that lead to the entrances of WVU Medicine Children’s and other portions of the campus were determined to also be unsafe, particularly for someone with a disability.

“As far as the accessibility reports, a lot of these numbers were drawn from Health Sciences, which you would not expect because it is the hospital,” said Magrogan. “Around (WVU Medicine) Children’s, there were a few of those detectable warning systems, that are causing danger with those of disabilities,” she said.

For officials representing the City of Morgantown, the suggestions made by the WVU SGA in response to the were supported as part of their million-dollar pedestrian safety plan. While some of the areas around the Sunnyside Neighborhood are expected to see some improvements in 2025, pedestrian safety measures will also be seen in the First, Third, and Fourth Wards as part of just over $1 million in federal funding as part of the American Rescue Plan Act. With several initiatives focused on pedestrian safety already on the forefront for the city, it appears that they have a desire to address some of the concerns made by WVU students.

“I think it’s important that we are doing this (walk), often into the evening,” said Morgantown Deputy Mayor Jenny Selin, supporting the initative. “Because lighting makes an area feel completely different than how it does during the day, so it’s nice to just kind of see it (suggestions on what can be done),” she said.

The next WVU SGA Student Safety Walk is expected to take place sometime in Spring 2025.

 

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