Ithaca College

Submitted on behalf of Dominick Recckio.

Dear Fellow Students,

It has come to my attention that many of the routes that students walk off-campus can be unsafe, specifically, Troy Road, Coddington Road and 96B/Danby Road. Each of these roads has considerable traffic that moves at various and rapidly changing speeds, and I want to make sure that as students, we all take more caution when walking around our local area, especially late at night.

Some local residents have expressed concern that students have been walking in their yards and in some cases, damaging property such as mailboxes. I understand that on roads like Troy and Coddington there is very little space to walk, as well as deep ditches to keep from falling or tripping into, but we all must be respectful of our neighbors’ property. Our South Hill community is a vibrant one, and that comes from the wonderful cohabitation of students and local residents.  We don’t want to lose that meaningful relationship.

Local law enforcement and I are worried that some of the fast-moving traffic and poorly lit streets lend to the possibility of fatal accidents. I want to help mitigate this as best as possible and have a few suggestions to help do so.
 

• If you are walking home late at night, please try and keep single file along the shoulder of the road.
• Using a designated driver system can be helpful in many ways. Rotating someone in your group who is sober and available to create a more safe environment is a great step toward positive safety.
• Calling one of the local cab services to get you from one place to another is another way to get home safe.
• Wearing reflective clothing as you walk home will allow traffic to see that you are there, and give them cause to slow down as they drive past.
• Cooperating with the Tompkins County Sheriffs office when they are present is paramount. They have assured me that their number one goal is to make sure that students get home safe, and will try and make sure that students walk in a more orderly fashion and that traffic is aware that there may be obstructions.

In this year’s convocation address, one of my challenges to the student body was that we all be stewards of Ithaca. Being respectful and considerate of our South Hill community is a great step toward accomplishing that goal.

Be safe,

Dominick Recckio ‘16
Ithaca College Student Body President
sgapresident@ithaca.edu
https://www.ithaca.edu/orgs/sga/