Anyone who has recently entered campus from Monastery Drive has probably noticed the implementation of a new stop sign at the Y-intersection.
Drivers were previously signaled to yield to exiting campus traffic heading towards Beatty County Road.
Joseph Adams O.S.B., director of public safety, addressed the purpose of the stop sign’s implementation.
“The stop sign was placed in response to a request made by the Saint Vincent safety committee, which had received expressed concerns received from several individuals that vehicles regularly fail to yield the right of way to oncoming traffic at the yield sign at the Beatty County Road Y intersection,” he said.
Adams added that the stop sign will hopefully improve awareness and safety at the intersection. He also stated that the stop sign was placed on a private road that is located on Saint Vincent property.
Additionally, drivers may have noticed that two security cameras have been installed just feet from the stop sign.
Students have debated if the college installed the cameras to monitor whether drivers were adhering to the new stop sign.
However, Adams cleared any confusion surrounding these beliefs.
“The cameras are part of a separate project aimed at increased awareness and monitoring of vehicular traffic entering and exiting the college campus from Beatty Road, and have nothing to do with enforcement of stopping at the stop sign,” he said.
Luke Mulloy, a junior Criminology major, did not notice the camera as he entered campus, but he did comment on the new stop sign.
“I do not believe it will affect other drivers because if they do not see a car coming they will blow through it anyways and if a car is coming they will stop regardless,” Mulloy said.
Some students who live off campus encounter the stop sign on their daily commute, when entering from Monastery Drive, such as Jimmy Dolan, a junior finance major.
“I am not in favor of the new stop sign, as I think it actually creates a safety hazard,” Dolan said. “If more than two vehicles are stopped at the stop sign, and another vehicle makes the left into the same lane, that car can be backed up onto the main road and can potentially be the cause of an accident.”
Dolan also noticed the new security cameras and presumed that they would be used to monitor vehicles that entered campus.
From the March 25 SGA meeting’s minutes, the notes from the Public Safety section instructed the attendants the following: “Do not speed around campus. There have been reports of people driving around too fast.”
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