Safety Enhancements Help Protect Pedestrians Across UGA’s Campus

Multi-year infrastructure upgrades, engineering controls and university-county collaborations enhance pedestrian safety across high-traffic University of Georgia corridors.

• By Greg Trevor
• August 20, 2026

When UGA students set foot on campus to begin the fall semester, they will see a series of improvements to promote pedestrian safety across the university.

These improvements, the latest in a multi-year initiative, include better lighting, new crosswalks and additional engineering features at campus intersections with heavy foot traffic, said P. Daniel Silk, the university’s associate vice president for public safety.

“On any given day during the academic year, tens of thousands of UGA students, faculty and staff are walking across our campus to work and study,” Silk said. “There is no higher priority than protecting these pedestrians as they negotiate with the heavy volume of vehicles that crisscross the campus each day.”

UGA averages more than 44,000 drivers on campus daily, according to the Watch for Dawgs program, which equips members of the university community with the information and tools they need to safely navigate campus.

Some of the most visible changes took place this summer along one of the busiest streets on campus — the heavily traveled stretch of Sanford Drive. The university has added a new pedestrian table, or raised walkway, between the Tate Student Center and Memorial Hall. This will slow vehicle movement and make it easier for motorists to see pedestrians.

UGA also has worked with Athens-Clarke County to enhance pedestrian safety on Baldwin Street. The new design promotes pedestrian crossings at intersections controlled by traffic lights. Additional bollards, or black metal barricades, are being installed on the corners of campus intersections with high levels of foot traffic. These bollards are designed to protect pedestrians from automobiles. 

The university is also working with Athens-Clarke County to improve traffic signaling and realign vehicle lanes at the intersection of River Road and College Station Road. Extensions to the existing sidewalks are also planned at the Intramural Fields.

In recent years, the university and the county have collaborated on additional safety improvements at heavily traveled intersections, including enhanced lighting along East Campus Road and upgraded traffic lights at College Station Road near the Veterinary Teaching Hospital.

Further enhancements to pedestrian safety include:

• Converting the dormant rail bed between Mitchell Street and East Broad Street into a walkway.
• Lighting upgrades for nighttime pedestrian movement at Cedar Street and East Campus Road, similar to earlier improvements at Sanford and Cedar.

Student leaders support these changes.

“What’s been really clear to me is that students across campus care about safety, both during the day and at night. I’ve heard consistently from students about the need for better lighting, safer crossings and more visibility,” said Verner “Trey” Wilson, Student Government Association president. “It’s encouraging to see UGA stepping up with these improvements and prioritizing a campus that’s both walkable and accessible. But we need students to stay engaged in this work. These infrastructure changes only matter if we all take responsibility for our own safety and look out for each other.”

Along with encouraging drivers to avoid distractions and always Watch for Dawgs, UGA leaders urge members of the university community to be aware of their surroundings at all times as they walk across campus.

“Many of the most effective pedestrian safety tips are simple but important,” said Michelle Cook,  vice president for student affairs. “Use crosswalks whenever they’re available, and focus on actively looking for potential traffic hazards. If you are wearing earbuds, please consider using only one to increase your awareness. We all need to watch out for one another.”

UGA’s Office of Public Safety has launched a new web page devoted to traffic and pedestrian safety. 

The Office of Public Safety also has been collaborating with faculty and students in the College of Engineering, the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, the College of Public Health and the College of Environment and Design on multiple projects aimed at analyzing traffic patterns throughout the university and enhancing communications that promote pedestrian safety.

This includes a new $630,000 federal grant to develop a 10-year transportation infrastructure safety plan across UGA’s Athens campus.

Photo credit: Chamberlain Smith/UGA