Are you ready for some football?

SPORTS, B1

MONDAY, APRIL 15

Lanthorn
G R A N D VA L L EY ST U D E NT- R U N P U B L I C AT I O N S L A NT H O R N . C O M PRINT . ONLINE . MOBILE

WWW.LANTHORN.COM

INSIDE THE ISSUE

RELAY FOR LIFE EFFORTS RAISE OVER $80,000, LAKER LIFE B4

A4

OPINION
DO YOU FEEL SAFE WALKING OR BIKING ON 48TH AVE.?

APRIL 15 , 2013 GRAND VALLEY LANTHORN

VALLEY VOTE

LOG ON & VOTE LANTHORN.COM

With Ottawa Countys plans to widen 48th Avenue to accommodate projected growth, students should think about alternative solutions

STREET SMART
A
t Grand Valley State University, the safeness of walkability and bike-ability on 48th Avenue has been an ongoing topic of discussion for years, most prominently in 2010 following a collision between a car and then-Sophomore Zach Somples, who sustained injuries to his spinal cord, clavicle, brain and pelvis while riding his bicycle. At the time of the accident, a new student group called GVSU Students for Sidewalks emerged, the Student Senate passed a resolution advocating for new safety measures, and students became engaged in the discussion. However, since then, student concern over the safety and walkability of the street has zzled out, and as Ottawa County Road Commission plans to widen 48th Avenue from two lanes to three, four or even ve inches closer to fruition, a Transportation Planning class has pulled together a panel discussion to explore alternative solutions to proposed plans that could improve the long-term quality of the community. Patricia Houser, professor of the Introduction to Transportation Planning course that have replaced their nal exam with Project 48, described the implications of the proposal by relating it to a historic urban planning court case, Jacobs v. Moses. [Moses] was a brilliant planner of highways and he wanted to put a highway through Greenwhich Village and Jane Jacobs lived there and she said, ink about what youre saying. is is a really special place. is is a neighborhood, you dont put a highway through a neighborhood. And he said, Watch me. And it became this confrontation. Now we dont see a confrontation comingbut we are saying, lets open the conversation because we think that youre putting a highway through a neighborhood. All of this to say: as students, no matter how transient, we are part of the GVSU community. How we feel, what we think, contribute or change has a ripple e ect for students for

EDITORIAL

generations to come. ough its hard to mobilize for everyones cause especially while trying to graduate from a four-year university there are some whose impact and consequence stretches beyond interest groups and into the entirety of the student body, even to the GVSU community as a geographic sprawl. So whether you think the proposal to build widen 48th Avenue is perfect as it stands, identify with the students in Project 48 believe theres a more comprehensive solution, or just dont know anything about any of the proposals at all, its worth your time to get involved. Houser said in all of her urban planning courses, theres on consistent and prevailing theme: what we do with the landscape comes back and a ects us. And as stakeholders in a community-wide conversation, its worth joining the public forum. Because whatever decision is made, whatever actions are taken theyll come back and a ect you.