Lack of lighting, uneven cracks in pavement – UMD SGA Safety Walk results headlines

Disclaimer: Student Government Association Student Affairs Committee Co-Director Imaan Shikoh is a former Diamondback opinion columnist.

The University of Maryland SGA held its annual safety walk Tuesday night to identify safety and accessibility issues on and around campus.

Attendees included members of the Student Government Association committee, university staff and University of Maryland police. During a walk this year, community members noticed the lack of lighting and uneven cracks in the sidewalks on campus.

Visitors were divided into three routes. One group focused on Route 1, a second group headed north campus toward student housing, and the final group headed south toward Lefrak Hall.

Paisley Brockmeyer, SGA’s director of transportation and infrastructure, said the organization is trying to change its routes from previous years based on member concerns.

“We’ll take some of the concerns that we’ve heard throughout the year and make sure we address them as we go,” Brockmeyer said.

Brockmeyer, a senior physiology and neuroscience major, said the SGA received several complaints about lighting in the Washington Quarter, so the organization ensured the area was included in one of its routes.

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Imaan Shikoh, co-director of the SGA Student Affairs Committee and leader of the third group, also highlighted lighting issues on campus.

Some members have discussed the possibility of installing additional light poles near the South Campus dining hall, Chico, a senior public policy major, wrote in a message to The Diamondback.

The lack of light poles on South Campus was also a concern during last year’s safety walk, as previously reported by The Diamondback.

But Brockmeyer said many of the lighting problems reported last year have been corrected.

“There will always be little problems like (burnt-out light bulbs), but this audit helps us keep that in mind and make sure our lighting is getting better every year,” she said.

Chicot’s group also reported uneven cracks on heavily traveled sidewalks, she wrote.

Sidewalk cracks have also been a problem on North Campus in the past year, said Bob Peels, executive director of Facilities Management’s Facilities and Landscape Services division.

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Alejandro Perez, an incident response officer who attended the Safety March, also noticed several cracks in the sidewalk. “It’s important to understand students’ perspectives to better work on campus renovations,” Perez explained.

“Honestly, it’s relaxing. It’s like no stress,” Perez said. “You can take everything into account without feeling the pressure of, ‘Hey, I need to fix this.'”

Construction of the Purple Line also caused “a lot of problems,” Peels said. The situation is constantly changing, and this is an important factor to consider when reporting problems, Pils added.

Brockmeyer discussed how the construction of the Purple Line has impacted campus lighting.

“It’s easy to complain about the lighting,” she said. “But with the Purple Line, they had to tear it all down to reconstruct the road.”

Despite the concerns raised by participants, Brockmeyer said she was pleased with the level of participation and turnout. There was also a good balance between university administration, students and police, Brockmeyer said.

“It’s really good that we didn’t have anything to comment on because it means our past safety walks worked,” she said.