April 15 - Street Smart
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7/28/2019 April 15 - Street Smart
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OPINIONA4APRIL 15 , 2013
GRAND VALLEY LANTHORN
VALLEY VOTE DO YOU FEEL SAFE WALKING OR BIKING ON 48TH AVE.?LOG ON & VOTE
LANTHORN.COM
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7/28/2019 April 15 - Street Smart
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At Grand Valley State Univer-sity, the safeness of walkabil-ity and bike-ability on 48th
Avenue has been an ongoing topic of
discussion for years, most prominentlyin 2010 following a collision between acar and then-Sophomore Zach Som-ples, who sustained injuries to his spi-nal cord, clavicle, brain and pelvis whileriding his bicycle.
At the time of the accident, a new
student group called GVSU Studentsfor Sidewalks emerged, the StudentSenate passed a resolution advocatingfor new safety measures, and studentsbecame engaged in the discussion.However, since then, student concernover the safety and walkability of the
street has zzled out, and as OttawaCounty Road Commission plans towiden 48th Avenue from two lanes tothree, four or even ve inches closerto fruition, a Transportation Planningclass has pulled together a panel dis-cussion to explore alternative solutions
to proposed plans that could improvethe long-term quality of the commu-
nity.Patricia Houser, professor of the In-
troduction to Transportation Planningcourse that have replaced their nal
exam with Project 48, described theimplications of the proposal by relatingit to a historic urban planning courtcase, Jacobs v. Moses.
[Moses] was a brilliant plannerof highways and he wanted to put ahighway through Greenwhich Village
and Jane Jacobs lived there and shesaid, ink about what youre saying.is is a really special place. is is aneighborhood, you dont put a high-way through a neighborhood. And hesaid, Watch me. And it became thisconfrontation. Now we dont see a con-
frontation comingbut we are saying,lets open the conversation because wethink that youre putting a highwaythrough a neighborhood.
All of this to say: as students, nomatter how transient, we are part ofthe GVSU community. How we feel,
what we think, contribute or changehas a ripple eect for students for
generations to come. ough its hardto mobilize for everyones cause especially while trying to graduatefrom a four-year university there are
some whose impact and consequencestretches beyond interest groups andinto the entirety of the student body,even to the GVSU community as ageographic sprawl.
So whether you think the pro-posal to build widen 48th Avenue is
perfect as it stands, identify with thestudents in Project 48 believe theres amore comprehensive solution, or justdont know anything about any of theproposals at all, its worth your timeto get involved. Houser said in all ofher urban planning courses, theres on
consistent and prevailing theme: whatwe do with the landscape comes backand aects us.
And as stakeholders in a communi-ty-wide conversation, its worth joiningthe public forum. Because whateverdecision is made, whatever actions are
taken theyll come back and a
ectyou.
EDITORIAL
STREET SMARTWith Ottawa Countys plans to widen 48th Avenue to accommodateprojected growth, students should think about alternative solutions