The Shared Governance Committee of the Associated Students of Madison discussed Lakeshore path safety concerns, recent committee activity and future campus construction at their Tuesday meeting.
The agenda focused mainly on the safety concerns presented by the Lakeshore path, with multiple members wanting to add lights along the route.
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ASM is interested in pursuing the issue, Budget Committee Chair MGR Govindarajan said.
But other members of the committee pushed back, noting that students have proposed those changes for years with no success.
Relevant subcommittees did not organize a plan to address the problem, and members were pessimistic about the chances of installing lights.
“There are so many tiny groups that have a say over it, [the University of Wisconsin Police Department] to administration to [the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources] to students and more,” Govindarajan said. “It’s impossible to please all of them and that’s basically what the trouble is.”
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ASM considered alternative safety measures like adding more emergency phones along the pathway, but other students pointed out that UWPD does not want them because they are expensive and seldom used.
All committee members agreed they should take action to make the Lakeshore path safer for students, but they were early in the planning stages and without much consensus. Shared Governance Campaign Director Emma Cline said the committee should continue investigating the issue.
“We’re going to be looking at alternatives such as encouraging students to use other routes and increasing safety on those other routes rather than the lights themselves,” Cline said.
Members then discussed what their respective committees have been doing recently.
The Advisory Committee for the Office of the Dean of Students continued meaningful discussions about mental health and its impact on the community.
The UWPD Police Advisory Committee plans to roll out a crime database. This will increase accessibility to the department and make it easier for students to view and file complaints against officers, student representatives said.
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Govindarajan shared updates from his conversations with the construction head, saying students should prepare for eight to 12 weeks of construction at the corner of University Avenue and North Charter Street.
The sidewalk around Chamberlain Hall will be closed but the Bus 80 will be unaffected, Govindarajan said. The construction on East Campus Mall and West Johnson Street will continue to at least early 2022, depending on weather conditions.
