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At ��������, 80% of students commute to campus daily by car, bus, bike or on foot, often crossing East Main Street, a busy state route with mid-block crossings known for safety risks.

“I can't believe how scary this street is," Aimee Ward, Ph.D., assistant professor of geography, told Kent State Today. “And there are students right there. How is this happening?”  

Driven by Kent State students, this collaborative research initiative guided by Ward, addresses growing concerns about mid-block crossings on East Main Street and demonstrates the urgent need for safety improvements.

“That’s how this started,” Ward added.  

Ward joined �������� in 2019 in the geography department, establishing the Human Geography Lab in August 2024. The lab’s establishment came from students’ desire for belonging, leading Ward to recruit Harley Hill, a senior public health major, to be her research assistant.  

“I realized I wanted to be Dr. Ward’s thesis advisee after taking her Nature and Society class,” Hill said.

Currently, Ohio classifies some pedestrian crossings as highly dangerous based on a scale known as “near misses.” According to Ward, midsection crossings are one of the most dangerous options for pedestrian crossings based on this Ohio measurement.  

Ward, Hill and a team of student researchers have spent the past year studying the safety of East Main Street’s mid-block crossings, collecting and analyzing data regarding near misses, pedestrian crossing, vehicle speeds and driver yield rates to propose alternatives to these dangerous pedestrian routes to the city of Kent.  

Throughout this process, students have gained hands-on experience that goes beyond what is typically offered in the traditional classroom.

“Some of my most memorable moments were over winter break,” Hill said. “I helped measure the width of East Main Street with the lab and engineers – literally running across the street with a tape measure to get the exact distance before traffic arrived.”

What began as simple data collection, measuring the width of East Main Street to calculate pedestrian crossing time and counting near-accidents from a lawn chair, quickly evolved into a more complex research effort. The team implemented the use of three high-tech traffic cameras to automate data collection but initially had to process the footage manually due to a lack of specialized software.

That is when Mostafa Kamali Ardakani, Ph.D., associate professor from the Department of Information Systems and Business Analytics in the Ambassador Crawford College of Business and Entrepreneurship got involved. Ardakani’s expertise helped the team develop image recognition and machine learning software to streamline data analysis.

The project also required creative solutions to protect the traffic cameras overnight. From the School of Fashion, Chandler Newman and Brooke Croushore, both junior fashion design majors, along with Sabina Johnson, a senior fashion design major, worked to design protective covers for the cameras.

“There was so much collaboration in this project between the research and design teams,” Johnson said. “Design is a trial-and-error process, so we had to refine prototypes to make sure they worked well.”

Students are gaining real-world experience and are contributing to publications and preparing a conference abstract for March.

“I never thought I’d be setting up research equipment before 7 a.m., working with city engineers or analyzing crash reports,” Hill said. “I’ve learned to be more patient, ask for clarification and lean on others when I need it.”

As pre-testing wraps up, the team plans to analyze data, draft manuscripts, write grants and form future partnerships before post-testing begins in 2027. With over 15,000 hours of video data already collected, the study is poised to impact pedestrian safety in Kent and at Kent State and potentially influence broader transportation policies.

“Beyond the physical research, I hope the design team’s contributions will inspire and encourage other students to participate in interdisciplinary research projects,” Croushore said.

The design team has completed their work on the camera covers and plans to reveal them next week with hopes of pitching the design to the company for official use later down the line. 

Learn more about the Department of Geography.