UF and Gainesville are working together to install streetlights near campus.
UF donated $25,000 to add lights behind Midtown, the area north of campus, Dec. 22, wrote Chip Skinner, the city’s Regional Transit System and Public Works marketing and communications supervisor in an email. UF’s donation will join the $350,000 the city has provided for lighting.
UF and the city hope the lights help students stay safe when walking at night, he said. So far, 29 lights have been upgraded to provide better lighting, and six new fixtures have been installed on Southwest Ninth Road and Southwest Ninth Avenue.
Installing and upgrading the lights will cost between $1 million and $1.4 million dollars, Skinner said. UF’s contribution will replace about 30 streetlights.
Eleven areas north and east of campus will be getting new or better lighting, Skinner said.
The city will finish replacing the lights behind Midtown early this year, but a date has not been finalized, Skinner said.
UF’s donation came after discussions with Mayor Ed Braddy about how the university could improve public safety, said Charlie Lane, UF’s chief operating officer.
“I’ve been very interested in public safety since I arrived at UF about 18 months ago,” Lane said.
He said UF wanted to increase lighting behind Midtown.
To see what conditions students walked home in, about 20 officials rode around the area in golf carts May 15. The team included officials from the city, Gainesville Police, University Police and UF.
“We identified a number of areas that we felt like would need additional lighting,” Lane said.
He said he wants parents to know their children are safe.
“Parents are concerned about safety,” Lane said. “As senior administrators, we’re very interested with taking care of our students.”
Kyrstin Deffendall, a UF business sophomore, said she feels safe near her apartment behind Midtown.
The 19-year-old said she is comfortable walking near University Avenue at night, but feels unsafe walking along back roads after dark.
“When you get farther away (from University Avenue) it gets a little sketchier,” she said.
Deffendall said there should also be more streetlights near UF’s sororities, not just near Midtown.
“There’s just as many people everywhere else,” she said.
She said UF’s donation will help future students, including herself, feel safer.
“I feel like people’s safety should be the number one concern,” Deffendall said. “That’s where most of the money should be going anyway, aside from academic funding.”
Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter @k_newberg.
