Don't walk

It has been more than a year since the day when a Belton woman fell from the Highway 317 bridge near 11th Street. While her case is still unsolved, some wonder if the bridge’s safety contributed to the woman’s death and if it is safe for pedestrians.

Justice of the Peace Ted Duffield was one of the first on the scene and pronounced 68-year-old Marian Lanelle Chimene dead.

Months after the woman’s passing, he said there could be many reasons why the woman fell 20 feet to her death, but he knows for sure that he felt uneasy during the investigation as he walked along the pedestrian walkway where the woman took her last steps.

“Until I walked across it, I didn’t realize how short the railing was on the bridge,” Duffield said. “It is actually on me, just about knee high.”

Even a year later, Duffield still feels concerned about the guardrail that separates joggers, walkers and cars from the railroad tracks below because of its height.

State and federal transportation administrators require pedestrian guardrails to be a minimum of 42 inches high, according to Texas Department of Transportation Public Information Officer Ken Roberts.

However, the height of the bridge’s guardrail is 24 3/8 inches high.

Despite Duffield’s feelings of the guardrail being too short for comfort, Roberts assures that the bridge is safe for pedestrian traffic.

“The bridge has striping on it that creates sufficient space for pedestrians,” he said. “There is not a sidewalk set aside for joggers and bicyclists, but there is sufficient striping.”

When asked about the issue in fall of 2007, Roberts said the bridge was constructed in 1957, and current standards for bridge width and pedestrian-designated areas are different today.

“But we’ve done our best to designate an area for pedestrian crossing,” he said. “There is a shoulder and a guardrail that is all striped with the intent of not being driven in.”

Even though TxDOT has designed a place for pedestrian traffic, director of campus police chief Gary Sargent said he doesn’t advise that students cross the bridge on foot or on bicycles.

“We have a history of showing that there is risk associated with that bridge,” he said. “There may have been some extenuating circumstances in the woman’s death, but still there is a hazard there that people need to be aware of.”

The chief recommends not using the bridge as a walkway not only because of previous incidents, but also because of the amount of traffic on Main Street.

About 21,000 cars cross over the bridge daily, according to figures calculated by TxDOT.

“Because of the low guard rail and any number of factors, the bridge is not the best place to cross the tracks,” he said.

Even though the chief would rather not see students walking or riding across the bridge, he said they should be aware of surroundings any time they are jogging or engaging in other outdoor activities.

“We’ve had numerous complaints this year from motorists that individuals are jogging down Crusader Way at night or early in the morning and not being seen until the cars are almost on top of them,” he said. “Luckily, there’s not a lot of traffic, and it’s easy to take some evasive action, but if you had a heavily trafficked roadway, it would be a lot more difficult.”

Students should always be aware of what’s going on around them when they’re on campus to identify and reduce potential risk, Sargent said.

He suggests wearing reflective clothing and not crossing the railroad tracks.

The bottom line is students and others are responsible for their own safety, he said.

“The university has done a number of things to implement safety measures,” Sargent said. “But ultimately it’s your decision to cross that bridge when you run down that road, and you have to assume responsibility for those decisions.”