Traffic's a tangle all hours of the day and night

by Erin Buerger

This is the traffic on Boque and Shaw before noon

Walking around campus, do you find yourself puzzled about why on earth there is so much traffic?  No, I’m not talking about plain old auto traffic.   I mean traffic: bikers, walkers, runners, drivers, skateboarders and even those crazy bus drivers.  I’ve even seen some of the football boys riding around on moped things. 

At times I ask myself, what is the overall best way to get around?  Most convenient, quickest, easiest, fastest, cheapest…there are so many ways, but so little time and money (especially for us college students).  Life on campus is hard enough and figuring out the best way to get around just does not ease the stress.  Though some days are much more hectic than others, every day on the campus of Michigan State University is filled with activity.  I’d like to walk you through a typical day in the life of me: a busy freshman still uncertain of my surroundings and exactly how I should get to class each day.

It’s Thursday morning around 7:40 a.m.  For those of us who have way too much to do from 1 o’clock on, class will start in about twenty minutes.  No, there are not too many of us out there, but still getting around campus is a bit crazy.    Bikers fly past those on foot, trying to beat them to the best seats in class.  Drivers, too, are out, of course, mostly faculty and professors. 

Some students who live off campus are crazy enough to think they can drive down the one-way streets, weave through students, struggle to find that last parking spot in the “Employees Only” parking spaces and never get a parking ticket.  Not an easy feat to achieve. 

Because of the insane amount of time it takes to find a parking spot, many students walk, ride bike, roller blade or even take the oh-so-trusty (or maybe not so trusty) CATA buses.  Yet most people somehow find a way, thankfully, to make it to class on time.

Finally, ten o’clock in the morning rolls around.  Early classes are out and students are on to their next destination: class (or perhaps their beds).  By now, the number of students out on campus seems to have doubled.  The streets are congested even more with cars and buses, both seeming to miss the signs at every corner simply saying, “Yield to Peds in Cross Walk.”  The sidewalks are no better, filled with students traveling at a less than acceptable pace for those trying to make it from Hubbard to Holden in less than twenty minutes – possible but not easy.  The streets begin to clear, but not noticeably as 10:20 classes begin. 

Lunch time! Classes are out , allowing students to grab a bite to eat.  Grand River is flooded with starving students headed to Taco Bell, BTB, The Pita Pit, Jimmy Johns and other franchise restaurants.  Some are finished with classes for the day, while others are just rolling out of bed ready for breakfast.  The streets and sidewalks in East Lansing are now outrageously crowded.  After filling up on pitas, wraps, sandwiches and grinders, the restaurants empty, causing crowded streets that are unsafe to even walk on. 
The working day for most is complete by 5 p.m. and the streets are once again overflowing with drivers eager to get home.  Students are also getting out of work and class and heading off to dinner or other extracurricular activities.  

Thursday night mean Thirsty Thursdays.  Whether watching the Lansing Lugnuts baseball team or heading to Sigma Chi for a frat party, Thursday nights in East Lansing are a bit ridiculous.  Let’s just say the weekends here start earlier than they do anywhere else.  Considering MSU’s reputation for being a big party school and the amount of drivers on campus, or just owners of vehicles in general, has anyone ever thought of who on earth is keeping our streets so busy at 1 a.m.?  Good thing we have so many responsible designated drivers out there, huh?  I’m not so sure every driver is “designated.”  Streets in East Lansing may be at their lowest point on the safety scale at this time because of the drunks and strangers staggering around.           

Freshman Kate Sylman said she thinks the walkers are the most successful because they only depend on themselves, not a rusty bike or a crabby bus driver.  She also thinks there are too many vehicles creating hazardous conditions for bikers and walkers alike. 

In fact, just this week a biker was nudged – softly - but still hit, by a driver who failed to stop before the thick white line drawn on the road.  Virtually every student has had a close call, whether with a biker, a driver or just a walker. 

Anything is possible here at Michigan State.  So whether you are out hustling to class, grabbing a bite to eat or just enjoying time with friends, be careful.  Know your surroundings and take the safe way home.