West Campus Apartments and Alaska Street may soon see vehicles reducing their speed because of a new Student Government resolution.
The proposal, sponsored by SG Senator Wesley Gore, vice chair of the Student Life, Diversity and Community Outreach Committee, called for speed bumps to be installed near WCA and Alaska Street and passed with 76 percent of the vote. The location of the speed bumps has yet to be determined.
Gore said he took action and authored the bill because he heard residents of the Residential College Complex talking about the speeding cars and dangers of the WCA parking lot. During the debate, Gore cited his personal experience with speeding vehicles around WCA this summer.
“I believe that speed bumps or some other solution is needed in the proposed area of the WCA parking lot for the safety of the students living in both the WCA and residential college,” he said.
Gore said he would like to place speed bumps at the entrance of the residential college that borders the WCA parking lot.
“Because of its location, there are many students that walk in the area,” Gore said. “Because there is no clearly defined walking path or crosswalk, it is very dangerous for students.”
Gore said it is “only a matter of time” before there is an accident, and the construction on Alaska Street further complicates things.
SG Senator Kat Latham, chair of the Student Auxiliaries and Services Committee and supporter of the resolution, said one of the main issues on campus is student safety.
“Particularly with the speed bumps, I think it opens a lot of doors for different legislation or even different conversations with the parking and transportation office,” she said.
Latham said although parking is not an issue at WCA, the lighting and speeding issues in the area need to be addressed. She said increased lighting will help vehicles spot pedestrians sooner and slow down.
“Maybe adding a couple speed bumps won’t totally change the issue,” Latham said. “I think it’ll open conversation so that these directors of parking are looking at that area and seeing what they can improve.”
During the resolution’s debate, Latham called for more speed limit signage and increased sign visibility around campus.
She said if the Office of Parking, Traffic and Transportation does not want the speed bumps, the solution is to add more speed limit signs.
SG Senator Mollie Smoak, a two-year resident of WCA, said she has never heard of speeding complaints from any residents and never saw an accident.
“Out of the people I’ve spoken to, they were confused why we need them,” she said.
Smoak said LSUPD is always patrolling the area, and the proposed speed bumps would create more of a hassle along the already-narrow roads.
“It shouldn’t be decided by people that don’t live there,” she said.
Gore said he will have a meeting with the Office of Parking, Traffic and Transportation sometime within the next few weeks to discuss the speed bumps and determine possible funding sources for the resolution.