Growing fed up with the heavy foot traffic and vehicles that traverse Speedway, business freshman Victoria Bradley experimented with different ways to cross campus that do not involve dealing with the congestion on the walkway. 

“If it was just students, I’d be fine, but the fear of getting run over every time you’re walking down Speedway, I was not expecting (when) coming here,” Bradley said. “The walk, with the trucks, would take a little longer, or sometimes I just avoid Speedway in general.”

Since the reimagining of Speedway as a pedestrian mall in 2015, the foot traffic of students, faculty and staff took precedence on what used to be a normal road, but recently, an increase of vehicles on the path has presented possible safety concerns. During the Oct. 17 Faculty Council meeting, Elizabeth Gershoff, a human development and family sciences professor, asked if the University planned to restrict vehicle access to preserve safety. 

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Darrell Bazzell, UT senior vice president and chief financial officer, said during the meeting that although vehicles needed to access the six loading docks on Speedway, he planned to look at solutions such as putting up an access gate. 

“There are vehicles that had always been envisioned to have some access to Speedway … but we are looking at ways to further limit access, because we are seeing a proliferation of vehicles along Speedway,” Bazzell said. “I’m seeing it personally.” 

Finance senior Joshua Weinbach said although he understands the need for access, trucks make the “sea of people” on Speedway worse. 

“Especially during those busy times, everyone just has to cram behind the trucks and it slows down the whole process,” Weinbach said. 

UT President Jay Hartzell said the University asked vendors who deliver to the William C. Powers Student Activity Center to make deliveries outside of class hours when possible. 

“There clearly are some times, such as the middle of the day, where it just is a blend of pedestrians and the occasional vehicle,” Hartzell said during the meeting.

Some students said the vehicle traffic does not bother them, like mathematics senior Isabelle Thai, who said she appreciates how easy it is to reach the buildings along Speedway. 

“I think it’s pretty efficient,” Thai said. “It’s pretty wide so any incoming cars are able to go through and you can step to the side.” 

Kerri Battles, director of communications for financial and administrative services, said in an email that the University views concerns as an opportunity to evaluate the policies and processes regarding Speedway. Vehicles need approval by Parking and Transportation Services to use Speedway. 

PTS and the Office of Campus Safety plan to retrain drivers if necessary to ensure policy compliance and determine if vehicles that currently have access still need it, Battles said in an email.

Business freshman Deba Osague said she thinks Speedway is a “nice central line” through campus, but bikes, scooters and cars make crossing Speedway less enjoyable. 

“You’ll just be walking and then you’ll realize there’s a car behind you … it can be a bit scary sometimes because you just hear them on the grate in the middle,” Osague said. “It’s just a shock because you’d expect more people but sometimes there’s a lot of cars or bikes on there as well.”