The staff editorial is the majority opinion of the editorial board of The Murray State News.
The city and University will soon be the proud neighbors of more sidewalks throughout the community. The proposed sidewalks stretching to Campus Core and The Chase are a long time coming. With 16th Street being the most dangerous commuter road for pedestrians in the entire town, this can be seen as nothing but an improvement.
The expansion of sidewalk projects in Murray will provide better security for those traveling on foot. This project that has been discussed for several years is finally coming to fruition. All we can say is it’s about time. Through grants and city funding the project has been met with applause from both the community and the University.
Peyton Mastera, projects administrator for Murray, said there was more than one reason for the implementing of this plan.
“The overall goal of this grant was not only to provide a suitable means of non-vehicular transportation,” Mastera said. “It also was to enhance the environment by reducing harmful air emissions.”
All we can say is bravo. For a small town like Murray to see this not only as an opportunity for those students trying to find an alternate means to get to campus, but also for thinking of the community at large and its strive to be a cleaner and healthier place to live. Murray has always done its best to work with the University for both the benefit of students and citizens of the city.
Mark Welch, director of Community Relations, said funding for the sidewalk has been a long way coming, and now that it is here it is more than welcome.
“We desperately need sidewalks to our off-campus student housing,” Welch said. “Construction is expensive and this new funding is great news for the campus and our community.”
Ever since the large off-campus housing set up on 16th Street students have been forced to choose between driving or risking the dangerous trek on foot all the way to campus. And with student drivers using that road more often than not the idea of walking becomes even scarier.
Don Robertson, vice president of Student Affairs, said the sidewalks are an important improvement for the community.
“These sidewalks are very important to the University and the community,” Robertson said. “They are very critical to student safety as many of our students walk these routes as well as for use them for bike traffic.”
If only we could get enthusiasm for bicycle lanes then students wouldn’t be able to complain about parking anymore.