Newly painted lines on crosswalks all around campus are a first step toward improving pedestrian safety this year, campus managers said.

Douglas Houghton, program manager for the Department of Public Safety, said as temperatures have risen during the past two weeks, a fresh coat of paint has been applied on crosswalks, as it is every spring. This year, however, fresh paint is part of a project to improve campus crosswalks.

“That’s part of what needs to be done,” he said.

A group consisting of representatives from Facilities Planning and Management, the Center for Transportation Research and Education, ISU Department of Public Safety and the ISU Transportation Services advisory council studied seven potentially dangerous crossings on campus this semester, and retained two engineers from within the university to help with the project.

Catherine Brown, program coordinator for Facilities Planning and Management, said the group worked Monday to develop a work plan for the completion of the project. A budget has not been approved for the project yet, she said.

“I’m not sure if we’ve been specific about what all we are trying to accomplish,” she said. “We were discussing some of the next steps.”

Houghton said the December deaths of Robert Stupka, who was hit by a bus on Pammel Drive, and Kelly Laughery, who was struck by a car on Mortensen Road, were catalysts for the completion of the project, although the group starting looking into it at the beginning of the fall semester.

“We’ve been working on pedestrian safety issues for some time,” he said. “The fatalities certainly focused attention on the issue.”

Center lines and vertical crosswalks were repainted with a brighter and more durable paint, Houghton said. In the next phase, certain problem crosswalks on campus will get a zebra-type striping, he said, which the engineers’ research showed would make the passages safer.

Brown said the zebra striping will be implemented within the next few weeks.

“It is just a matter of getting it scheduled and getting a contractor here to do the work,” she said.

Although no date has been set for the project’s completion, Brown said the group hopes to get as much done during the summer as it can.

Six areas the group studied and said will receive new stripes:

Wallace Road at the East Campus Parking Deck

Beach Road at the Forker Building and Lied Recreation Athletic Center

Beach Road at Maple-Willow-Larch

Union Drive at the Union Drive Community Center

Pammel Drive at the existing mid-block signalized crossing

Pammel Drive at the Insectary

– Kathryn Fiegen