The Ferris cam­pus received a safety upgrade over the sum­mer as stop signs were added and cross­walks were changed.

Among the safety addi­tions were count­down clocks for cross­ing State Street, advi­sory signs attached to exist­ing street signs regard­ing caution-related warn­ings and new stop signs.

Director of the FSU Department of Public Safety (DPS), Marty Bledsoe, said crews worked this sum­mer on chang­ing the cross­walks to make them more vis­i­ble from a dis­tance. Bledsoe said the cross­walks fol­low a uni­ver­sal design that is used on cam­puses across the nation.

“We reduced the num­ber of cross­walks on cam­pus, but made them more strate­gic and more vis­i­ble from far­ther dis­tances,” said Bledsoe.

There are three new three-way stops on cam­pus as work­ers installed new stop signs at mul­ti­ple inter­sec­tions. Two stop signs were added by the city of Big Rapids on South Street where it inter­sects Stadium Drive to cre­ate a three-way stop. The cross­walk across South Street was also short­ened at that inter­sec­tion to improve pedes­trian safety.

Stop signs were added at the cor­ner of North Campus Drive and Campus Drive in front of the Timme Center to cre­ate a three-way stop. This allows dri­vers to turn with greater ease onto Campus Drive because they no longer have to wait for cross traf­fic to cease. A new stop sign was also added at Rankin Circle.

Bledsoe said the changes on cam­pus were not strictly imple­mented to improve pedes­trian safety, but safety for dri­vers on cam­pus as well.

“It’s really a mis­nomer,” said Bledsoe, “Pedestrians don’t always have the right of way.”

Students work­ing for the DPS handed out green cards last week to raise aware­ness about the rules and laws for pedes­tri­ans and dri­vers. The card indi­cates that pedes­tri­ans and dri­vers can both be issued traf­fic tick­ets under pedes­trian laws. It also dis­closes that pedes­tri­ans can­not enter a cross­walk if a vehi­cle is close enough as to where it would have to slow down or avoid the per­son crossing.

“You could be sued in civil court if you cause an acci­dent,” said Bledsoe. n