The Walk-Only Zones have expanded to sections of Palm Walk and Tyler Mall (pictured). (Photo by Alexis Macklin)The Walk-Only Zones expanded into Phase Two on Thursday to encompass parts of the Palm Walk and Tyler Mall on the Tempe campus. All wheeled vehicles must be walked in these zones in addition to the ones established last fall.
The changes were put in place to enhance campus safety and ease congestion on campus, ASU spokesman Aaron Bryant said in an email.
“Casual observations from members of the ASU community have shown that Walk-Only Zones are making progress toward creating safer campus trips for all members of the ASU community,” he said.
"The changes come after several years of studying mixed-traffic modes on the Tempe campus by the Office of the University Architect," Bryant said.
“It was concluded that updating the vehicle access policies on malls and creating Walk-Only Zones were necessary steps toward enhancing campus safety and relieving congestion in heavy foot-traffic areas,” he said.
Phase Two of the zones encompass Palm Walk from Tyler Mall to Lemon Mall and Tyler Mall from Old Main to the Goldwater Center. These areas will be enforced from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Several groups, including Walk-Only Zones Ambassadors, Campus Mall Enforcement and University staff will position themselves at major zone entry points throughout the day to enforce the Walk-Only Zones, Bryant said.
“ASU believes that these steps, coupled with a comprehensive communications campaign, will make a major impact on eliminating wheeled traffic in Walk-Only Zones,” he said.
Design studies junior Ryan Allen said the Walk-Only Zones made a big difference in easing traffic flow compared to his freshman year.
“There was a lot of people running into each other,” he said.
Finance freshman Matt Zweig said while he feels the zones are inconvenient, it helped him discover new areas.
“It helped me look around at other areas on campus I wouldn’t normally see,” he said.
Psychology junior Desirai Browning said she likes how the University is trying to regulate traffic, but that the zones are too large to make riding a bike worth it.
“There’s no point in even bringing my bike to campus,” she said.
Reach the reporter at savannah.harrrelson@asu.edu and follow her on Twitter @savannahleeh
