By Chris Post / Editor-In-Chief

Marshall officials are looking beyond lower speed limits and flashing crosswalk signs as they continue efforts to improve pedestrian safety around Missouri Valley University.

City Administrator J.D. Kehrman told the Marshall City Council that the city has applied for a Transportation Engineering Assistance Program grant that could pay for a comprehensive pedestrian study of the area surrounding the university.

The proposed study would include the campus as well as corridors connecting Missouri Valley to other parts of the community, including Marshall Plaza and the intersection of Miami Avenue and College Street.

Kehrman said the study could do more than simply identify problem areas. By having the Missouri Department of Transportation participate in and help fund the study, the city hopes to establish a stronger foundation for future requests for pedestrian improvements.

The idea, Kehrman said, is for MoDOT to have some investment in a study that may ultimately demonstrate the need for additional safety improvements.

That could help when the city later applies for grants or approaches the state about changes along streets under MoDOT control.

Possible future improvements could include pedestrian refuge islands, raised crosswalks and additional lighting.

Kehrman said the city intends to continue working with Missouri Valley and MoDOT on what he described as more permanent, “brick-and-mortar” pedestrian improvements, rather than relying only on signs and reduced speed limits.

The effort follows several weeks of increased attention to pedestrian safety around the university after Missouri Valley student Julian Marøy was critically injured when he was struck by a vehicle Aug. 10 while crossing Morrow Street near Burns Athletic Complex.

Marøy, a member of the Missouri Valley soccer team, was using a marked crosswalk when he was struck. He was treated at the scene before being transported by air ambulance to Columbia.

The collision renewed long-standing concerns about the crossings along Morrow Street, which separates Burns Athletic Complex from the football stadium.

Although the street runs through Marshall, Morrow Street is also Missouri State Route WW and is largely controlled by MoDOT.

Kehrman previously told The Missouri Valley Delta that city officials had been communicating with MoDOT about the crossings since 2022 after university officials had already spent years trying to get improvements made.

“MoDOT is well aware, and there is a real resurgence of local interest following this tragedy,” Kehrman said following the August collision.

At the time, Kehrman said one of the improvements being sought was the installation of flashing warning signs near the two Morrow Street crosswalks.

Since then, the city has been allowed to install flashing pedestrian controls along Morrow Street, and MoDOT has also cooperated with the city in lowering the speed limit near campus.

The speed limit is now 15 mph on designated portions of Morrow Street, Redman Avenue, College Street and Conway Avenue surrounding the university. The reduction was announced Sept. 1 as part of a joint effort involving the city, Marshall Police Department and Missouri Valley University.

Marshall Mayor Craig Thompson later said the decision followed an Aug. 25 meeting involving representatives from the city, university and MoDOT.

The new limits may still need some adjustments.

During the latest council meeting, Ward 2 Council Member Jim Paprek questioned whether the eastbound 15 mph zone on Morrow Street begins too far west of the pedestrian crossings. He also questioned whether motorists are given adequate notice that they can return to the regular speed limit after leaving the pedestrian area.

Kehrman said staff would review the placement of the signs and determine whether gaps need to be corrected.

Meanwhile, another pedestrian project in Marshall is moving forward.

Kehrman said the city has received authorization to seek bids for sidewalk and crosswalk improvements at Miami Avenue and College Street. Bids are scheduled to be opened Oct. 14 at City Hall.

For city officials, those individual projects appear to be pieces of a greater effort.

Kehrman said Marshall intends to continue working with the state and university regardless of whether the pedestrian-study grant is awarded.

The city, he said, has already cleared one significant hurdle: getting MoDOT to allow safety changes along Morrow Street that Missouri Valley had sought for years.