Students and staff at the Strait Area campus of the Nova Scotia Community College in Port Hawkesbury say they're dealing with a dangerous situation.

Every day, between 25 and 40 students walk to and from campus, located on a busy highway on the outskirts of town.

"It is a four-lane highway and the speed limit is 70, but it's not uncommon to see people going as fast as 100 coming through that," explained Krista Luddington of the school's student services department.

A few weeks ago, Luddington met with students who walk along the highway. She said they were relieved to hear that NSCC was planning to bring awareness to the need for a safe walking lane or a sidewalk.

"Because we're kind of Cape Breton's front porch and people coming off the (Canso) Causeway, we've got close to 15,000 vehicles running on Reeves Street every day and a lot of that is 18-wheelers," Luddington said.

"So when they're catching speed and coming down that hill, there is nowhere for people to go, who are walking, to keep safe."

Mayor supports solution

Port Hawkesbury Mayor Brenda Chisholm-Beaton joined more than 100 students and staff in a walk Monday to draw attention to the problem. She said the municipality is aware of the challenges faced by students walking from their downtown apartments to the campus.

A solution is included in a planned Reeves Street project to improve the economic development potential of the 2.7-kilometre corridor between the Trans-Canada Highway and the downtown core, Chisholm-Beaton said.

"We're not all the way there but we are getting there," she said.

Planning and design for the project have been completed and the town is looking for funding partners.

Chisholm-Beaton said the Reeves Street redevelopment will take about three years, with the work on the NSCC portion of the street being completed in the second year.

She said the NSCC students are important to the town.

"Every fall we have an influx of population and we need people. We need people for our town, so we are really invested in working with NSCC."