Local residents say they are fed up with campus tour groups shoving them off the sidewalks.

Neighbors raised the issue with GW at a community meeting Monday, calling for additional signage on campus and more warnings to prospective students and families not to block traffic.

“I end up in the street,” long-time neighbor Barbara Kahlow told GW officials who gathered for the semi-annual Community Advisory Committee meeting. “It’s constant. It’s every single day. One-third of the sidewalk is your people.”

Dina Foy, who has owned an apartment in the Watergate for decades but recently began living there full-time, also blasted GW for inaction on sidewalks clogged by tour groups.

“The students come here and they see this whole area as their campus. They do not realize it’s also where we live,” Foy, an alumna, said. “We live here and we have certain rights as well.”

Dean of Students Peter Konwerski said he tried to tell tour group leaders not to walk backwards so they could better manage their groups, adding that it’s also dangerous for them.

And GW’s head of campus development Alicia Knight attempted to appease neighbors by promising to look into the issue, though she admitted there likely wasn’t much she could do.

“I don’t think its against the law for people to walk on the sidewalk. I think it’s poor manners – ” Knight said before she was interrupted by more of the neighbors’ concerns.

“It’s a little like telling someone not to text while they’re walking on the street,” Knight said.

This post was updated Tuesday, June 18 at 10:10 a.m. to reflect the following:

The Hatchet incorrectly spelled the name of Barbara Kahlow. We regret this error.