Senate pushes for sweeping changes to RPI’s sidewalks and crosswalks

Due to recent changes in the Student Union’s budgeting procedure, club treasurers now need to discuss and finalize their financial needs and subsidy requests by the fall in order to be able to present these requests by January. Dr. Potts assured the Senate that there would still be plenty of time for clubs to file any appeals on subsidies.

Dominick Celeste ’25 then presented a detailed plan and outline for the upcoming improvements to the various traffic and pedestrian issues that plague RPI’s campus. Each issue was classified as either green, yellow, or red. Green issues were the cheapest to fix; they would not exceed $1,000. These include the addition of a crosswalk between the Theta Xi house and the RSEi house, as well as additional parking on McLeod Road on the south side of campus. Yellow issues would be a bit more expensive, ranging between $1,000-$10,000, and red issues would exceed $10,000. A speed limit sign request along Sage Avenue, for example, would not be too costly and was thus classified as a yellow issue. A request for a sidewalk along Sunset Terrace, costing about $100,000, and a request for a traffic study on the intersection outside the Union were both expensive enough to be considered red issues.

Celeste’s plan also included a Lighting Improvement Plan, which calls for necessary replacements and fixes for lighting around problem areas. Celeste also proposed that a mandatory safety orientation be implemented, as well as a Handicapped Student Campus-Wide Traversal Plan, which would find a better alternative to disabled students’ current reliance on Public Safety for transportation. Natalie Hrytsyna ’28 suggested that the uneven stairs and sidewalks be addressed as well. Celeste cited an ongoing lawsuit against Troy over uneven construction and maintenance of sidewalks and stairs all over the city.

Griffin Oliver ’27 presented his motion to investigate the below-average size of the Class of ’2028 and how it would affect the Student Union Activity Fee. Oliver pointed out that the smaller class size had resulted in lower revenue collected from Union Activity fees. His motion included the creation of a new committee—the Committee for the Investigation of Enrollment Rates (CIER)—which would be responsible for investigating these matters. The CIER would be required to report their findings by the end of the Fall 2024 semester. Student Life Committee Chairperson Ria Massoni ’24, ’25G commented that the class size of the Class of ’2028 was not abnormal, given that the Classes of ’2023 and ’2025 were also particularly small. However, she also asserted that the matter was still worth looking into. The motion passed unanimously, 12-0-0.

This Senate meeting was held on Monday, October 21. The Senate meets every Monday at 8 pm in the Shelnutt Gallery.