A series of high-profile pedestrian and cyclist fatalities in the past year has prompted an Illinois State University group to prepare a report on vehicle and pedestrian safety planning near the campus in Normal.
The Planning and Finance subcommittee of ISU's Academic Senate is studying the matter with the intention of drafting a report by the end of this semester, said chair and Wonsook Kim College of Fine Arts professor Rick Valentin.
"The realization, I think, that we're all having is that it (at) least seems like it's getting a little bit more dangerous to be a pedestrian and ... a cyclist and a driver in these these areas," Valentin said in an interview.
That realization, in part, is a byproduct of an uptick in pedestrian fatalities and serious injuries from car-pedestrian collisions to pedestrian-cyclist collisions:
— In December 2021, a 23-year-old ISU student died after being hit by a car while walking in a crosswalk near Kingsley Junior High in Normal.
— In September 2022, a 29-year-old woman in downtown Bloomington diedafter being hit by a car. That same month, two ISU students were hospitalized with serious injuries after a car hit them outside of Pub II near Uptown Normal, and an ISU administrator died after a collision with a cyclist while walking near South University Street.
"It's very urgent — especially when there's a loss of life and especially when it's people in your community that you know," Valentin said. "It makes it even more important."
But Valentin stressed the work of the Academic Senate's subcommittee is not aimed at zeroing in on the incidents that have made headlines. Instead, he said, the goal is to find long-term solutions.
"When you start talking about anecdotal evidence, everyone has a story about how they've seen transgressions or problems — whether that's pedestrians or people, drivers, or cyclists. Everybody has their stories," Valentin said. "What we're trying to do in the community is get beyond that and not just talk about specific incidents, but about how we can sort of collectively address these problems, and head off issues before they happen, rather than being reactive."
By the numbers
Until 2022, the number of fatal pedestrian crashes in all of McLean County had remained relatively steady, according to data from the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT).
Pedestrian fatalities peaked at four in 2014, then remained at two per year until 2022, when the total jumped back up to four deaths, according to WGLT reporting.
Records from both the Bloomington and Normal police departments from 2018-2022 show that more than 50 pedestrian or bike crashes happen in Twin Cities each year.
Likely due to the proximity of ISU and the town's walkability, Normal is where the bulk of such incidents occur, compared with Bloomington.
The full scope of the issue on campus is difficult to determine, said ISU Police Chief Aaron Woodruff, because the data that exists is dependent on reporting. If all involved parties walk away from a collision — no matter the type — without reporting it, there's no record tied to that location.
"Your best bet is to report it to police because they will take an accident report even if there's no injuries," he said. "One reason is if injuries were to appear later on ... it's got you protected, in that sense. But it also helps track the data. The town (may be) looking at their data and saying, 'Well we don't really have an issue at College and University in comparison to others because we don't have any crash reports.' By reporting it, we can get some better data."
That data may inform structural changes, such as a recent addition of flashing lights and restriped crosswalk paint near Turner Hall on ISU's campus. Woodruff said those changes came as a result of collaboration between the campus community and Normal officials, who addressed the issue after concerns were reported to them.
But structural changes can't prevent every accident, especially when the cause is not structural in nature.
'It feels like there might be a cultural problem'
A recurring theme in the subcommittee Valentin chairs is distraction.
"(There are) distracted drivers, distracted commuters, distracted pedestrians — and maybe this is more anecdotal, but a loss of patience as well," Valentin said. "The argument is made that you can ticket every violator you see, but that's a huge amount of resources to dedicate to one infraction and it's not necessarily feasible."
It's also not happening as frequently as it once was, according to data from the McLean County circuit clerk's office.
In 2018, police all over McLean County issued more than 2,700 tickets for driving while using a phone. But in 2022, there were only 892 tickets issued, about a third of the total from four years ago.
Woodruff insists enforcement remains ongoing, but added issuing tickets alone — which starts at $75 for first-time offenders and rises incrementally from there — isn't the solution.
"It is enforced. I know our officers and I know Normal police do enforce it year round," he said. "It's just, it's so prevalent and it's so ingrained in culture that it's just a hard thing for people to recognize the risks that they're bringing on."
Distraction isn't just a driver problem — and it isn't just a phone problem, either. Another issue (especially prevalent on ISU's campus) is that earbuds cancel out surrounding sounds. That, of course, is the goal, but it can create issues that range from uncertainty at best to collisions at worst.
"I've heard from many students in my personal experience through student government where they've been walking on campus and they may hear a bike coming and they don't know if they should step ... to get out of the way, or stay in their spot," student body president Patrick Walsh told WGLT in an interview. "Also, many students wear their AirPods while walking, so they may not even hear this bicycle or skateboard coming up behind them."
That's prompted some at ISU, including the SGA, to consider creating "dismount zones" in certain high-traffic areas around campus, like the Quad, or the bridge over College Avenue. Essentially, the idea is that if a person is cycling, skateboarding, or doing anything but walking, that activity must be halted in a dismount zone and the bike or board carried until the person is out of that area.
Walsh said the idea is still being fleshed out and research is ongoing regarding what other universities have done — and if their changes have reduced accidents.
He likened it to when the university adopted a campuswide ban of tobacco decades ago, a move made for the greater good of public health.
"That was everybody coming together, saying, 'There are adverse health effects that come about when smoking occurs. Let's move together in this,'" Walsh said. "That could be similar to how the dismount policy could go forward, where it's more of a cultural shift."
Cultural change may be the emphasis, but mechanisms for enforcement of the proposed dismount policy also are being discussed, with possibilities ranging from fines to referrals to the student conduct office.
"Nobody wants to be given more fines, especially on campus, and that's why I think cultural is more the mechanism that's being looked at," said Walsh.
Other areas
Normal and ISU aren't the only places people are walking, cycling and getting into accidents: McLean County Regional Planning Commission Executive Director Raymond Lai said the county recently received a federal grant to improve Veterans Parkway, an unfriendly stretch of road in Bloomington-Normal for people on foot or bicycles, but trafficked by them nonetheless.
"I've seen like, a mom holding on to her 6- or 7-year-old daughter, walking along Veterans Parkway where there's no sidewalks, or I've seen people pushing their bike across the intersection," Lai said. "I've seen ... people trying to cross this 6-12 lane roadway and taking lives in their own hands because they don't want to walk 15 minutes up to the next stoplight and walk another 15 minutes back."
Recently, Lai said McLean County was awarded a federal Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity grant that will bring safety changes to the 10-mile stretch of road that was built with neither pedestrians nor cyclists nor those using the bus in mind.
"There are lots of opportunities to make it much safer, more accessible, and also to accommodate different modes of transportation," he said. "We will be having a consultant help us on that work after we get all of the agreements executed with the other different partners and the U.S. Department of Transportation."
Similarly, Ryan Otto, Town of Normal director of public works and engineering, said IDOT, which oversees the Main Street corridor, is looking to make safety changes to that area within the next five or so years.
"We're trying to advocate for additional pedestrian accommodations of all types — trying to reduce everything from reducing the radius of curves to shortening the crossing to changing the configuration of traffic signals and making them more accessible and ADA- (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliant," he said.
Still, there's only so much engineering can do, Otto said.
"If you're on your phone or walking across the crosswalk, or a driver is on his phone, texting — it's just a recipe for disaster when anybody within the right away is not looking at what's going on," he said. "So much relies on the communication, whether that's with the pedestrian and the traffic signal — knowing how much time is left across. If you're distracted, it's just not a safe condition."
Valentin said he's optimistic the differing cultural attitudes toward pedestrians in other states prove that a cultural change that emphasizes respect for travelers of all kinds is possible for the ISU campus and rest of the Bloomington-Normal community.
"It's not just simply establishing laws or building or putting up signage," he said. "Those are important factors, but there's also a cultural aspect, where it's that everyone needs to be much more vigilant and aware when they're moving through public spaces, whether that's in a vehicle or on foot."
