It’s a positive that a dialogue about safety is developing between Slippery Rock University, Slippery Rock Township and the management of off-campus student housing.

Jessica Johnson, vice president of student affairs with the SRU Student Government Association, asked the township supervisors last week that something be done about the half-mile stretch of Harmony Road between Kiester Road and The Grove apartment complex. The Grove, which opened in 2014, has 201 apartments and capacity for 603 people. It joined South Rock Apartments, Campus Side Apartments and Pine Glen Apartments on that same portion of Harmony Road.

While the apartments are only about a half mile southeast of the campus, the stretch of Harmony Road in between is as rural as a paved two-lane can be. Open fields and pastures line both sides of the highway. There is no lighting. There is no sidewalk — there is a 5-foot-wide pedestrian lane on one side of the road, but the lane abruptly stops about 1,600 feet short of the Grove Apartments.

Many of the SRU students who live on the road have expressed concerns about the lack of sidewalks and street lights as they walk to and from campus, Johnson said. Because of worries over safety, some students choose to drive to campus, which creates more traffic and takes up valuable parking spaces on campus.

For the apartments, the university and the township, this should be high priority problem in need of a solution, not an accident waiting to happen — an accident for which all three will share in the blame if they don’t take action soon.

It’s not as if they are not already dedicated to safety improvements. Township engineer Dave Neill said the township has received a PennDOT grant for a $760,000 project for improvements to Kiester Road between Harmony Road and the main entrance to SRU. The project will include improvements to sidewalks, lighting, drainage and crosswalks.

And Megan Reed, general manager of The Grove, was at the meeting and said that she would look into adding more lights.

Supervisor Paul Dickey said the township planning commission will study the situation and consider what can be done.

Fortunately everyone seems to be in problem-solving mode. The conversation about safety needs to continue and to gain momentum.

“I do think they opened the door to having conversations and help trying to figure out what we can do,” said Rita Abent, executive director for university public relations.

Maybe the door could open just slightly more to include talk about police coverage and security. Something should be done to protect off-campus students and monitor their conduct without reliance on the Pennsylvania State Police.

Perhaps the township should consider contracting with the Slippery Rock Borough police for coverage, which would be far more cost-effective, and ultimately more efficient than building a township police department from scratch.

According to a study by the State System of Higher Education, Slippery Rock University has a total direct economic impact of $227.2 million per year and an overall economic impact of $333.3 million.

A little more of that money should be going to protect the students whose families provide it.