At the start of Florida State University’s 2024-2025 academic year, the FSU Police Department launched a new pedestrian safety campaign called Heads Up. Officers reportedly handed out fliers, directed traffic, and talked to students about pedestrian safety following a series of accidents and near-accidents in years prior.
Interim Deputy Chief of Police for FSUPD Jason Trumbower says the number one goal of the campaign is “awareness,” reminding people to pay attention to their surroundings and obey traffic laws.
While students were away, the university installed raised crosswalks and speed tables in the areas surrounding campus—by crowded intersections of St. Augustine, West Jefferson, and West Pensacola Streets. Interim Deputy Chief Trumbower says the new measures are for safety.
“We’ve had a huge growth and boom of population, especially south of campus in the College Town corridor,” he said. “ A little over a decade ago, that was a warehouse district with no students, and now you’ve got residential areas that stretch in a two-mile radius. You’ve got anywhere in the neighborhood of 10,000-15,000 students living in that corridor that have to come to and from campus, and back and forth. It was just time to make some improvements for safety within that area.”
The changes come in the wake of several student pedestrians injured or killed at intersections around the campus. One particular accident hit FSU hard.
On April 29,2024, 22-year-old Elizabeth “Ellie” Sims was killed in a hit-and-run crash at the intersection of Pensacola and Lorene Streets. She was a sophomore at Florida State and a member of the Alpha Chi Omega sorority.
Students continue to face heavy traffic in and around campus. FSU Senior Evelyn Kite called her commute “chaotic,” and says most pedestrians are often distracted, leaving drivers like her on edge. In her experience as a pedestrian “walking around, I’m more nervous.”
In 2023, sections of Stadium Drive and Tennessee Street experienced annual average daily traffic upwards of 16,000 trips and 38,000 trips, respectively. Annual Average Daily Traffic is data routinely collected by the Florida Department of Transportation that informs city planning. The data considers all vehicle trips on an area of highway or local road in a single year, which is divided by 365 to produce a daily statistic.
Both roads, Stadium Drive and Tennessee Street, border the university. For comparison, the intersection where Sims was killed sees 6,600 vehicles per day and plenty of foot traffic. Predominantly students occupy the College Town district on that side of campus, marked by an energetic bar culture, restaurants, and live music.
By many accounts, finding on-campus parking has long been an inconvenience for FSU students. The new pedestrian safety measures are also now raising concerns of congestion. Though they have received a “mostly positive reaction,” the addition of speed tables –elevated and wider versions of speed bumps– have been criticized by some drivers. Still, FSU’s Trumbower says the placement of the speed tables was “strategic” and notes the school coordinated the installations with the city.