We learned at a young age that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. However, a straight line might not be the safest route when walking from your parking spot into work.
Safety is at the center of all we do, and with construction occurring across the Nebraska Medical Center and UNMC campus, this may be affecting your walk to work from your vehicle. For example, the shuttle that typically travels from East Campus Corporate Pavilion to Kiewit Tower currently has to drop off and pick up at Clarkson Doctors Building North, due to construction at the parking structure at Clarkson Tower.
“Take the extra time to cross the street at the proper crosswalk areas when taking the shuttle at the North Doctors Building to and from ECCP, or please go to the third floor of that building and use the skywalk to go over to the main campus,” said Frank Venuto, Nebraska Medicine chief human capital officer. “Your safety matters to your family, to our patients and to your teams. Please be safe out there.”
According to the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), a vehicle kills more than 4,000 people each year and injures more than 70,000 in pedestrian accidents. On average, a vehicle kills one pedestrian every two hours and injures one every eight minutes.
“While we have been fortunate to not have any pedestrian/vehicle accidents reported, we are wanting to be proactive,” said Stacy Rock, Nebraska Medicine employee safety coordinator. “Please remember to factor walk or travel time, so you are able to cross the streets safely in designated areas.”
It has not just been colleagues noticing others crossing the streets around campus improperly.
John Hauser, safety manager, UNMC, said his office has received calls from motorists expressing concerns about UNMC and Nebraska Medicine employees jaywalking.
“When you do this, you are the one that risks getting hurt and getting a ticket for jaywalking,” Hauser said. “This is extremely dangerous, so for your safety, please use the designated crosswalks and look before stepping into the street.”
Cars routinely ignore walk signs when they turn as well and do not yield to pedestrians. Running a red light fast when pedestrian (myself) is already crossing has been the biggest danger every day. Cannot drop my guard for a moment crossing this intersection, Saddle creek and Farnam both, twice a day and using pedestrian crossing with walk sign.
I would like to urge anyone concerned about public safety issues to download the Omaha Mobile app, powered by City Sourced. It is free and the city of Omaha is very responsive to reports that are submitted. I recently reported an issue with a pedestrian signal on Farnam, to my surprise I immediately received an e-mail letting me know that my report was received and forwarded to the respective department, and the issue was fixed within a week. I would like for the UNMC community to help advocate that the city redraws lines at pedestrian crossings annually. The more of us who take a minute or two to submit requests, the more we can improve public safety and our collective well-being.
So there are some shuttles, but no for everyone. Going to wait until someone gets killed crossing Leavenworth?