The University has added a new sidewalk on Alumni Drive for students walking to Lot 6.
The pouring of the sidewalk is completed except for a small section. The rest of that construction is about 90 percent complete. The University also plans to plant 45 trees and place six benches along the path. There are also three pedestrian crosswalks with north-south sidewalks between Alumni Drive and the new sidewalk. The street light and emergency phone will also be relocated.
“One reason was for safety,” Bob Waddle, assistant vice president of capital planning, said. ” A lot of students, particularly, in the winter would walk down the road to avoid walking in the snow.”
The sidewalk is part of a series of repairs and additions being made to the sidewalks on campus. The University is currently widening the north side of the Anderson Arena sidewalk.
“The entire project will be done next spring,” Marc Brunner, project coordinator for the Office of Design and Construction, said. “The work on Alumni Drive and Anderson Arena will be done in about three weeks.”
Other elements of the project include putting in an east- west sidewalk on the East Mall. The East Mall is located between Harshman and Kreischer where the pond was drained. A repair will also be made to the courtyard sidewalk at Mac West, but that project won’t be started until summer break.
The idea for the sidewalk has been around for over three years. USG started pushing for the completion of a sidewalk last February. The contract was put through and the construction on the sidewalk began this month.
“It’s something that is long overdue,” Sarah Saccany, USG president, said. “I think it is a real safety issue for students going to and coming from their cars in lot 6.”
There were many factors responsible for the delay in starting the sidewalk. The University has to prioritize what improvements to make using the money allocated by the state.
“We try to prioritize our projects as best as we can,” Waddle said.
With the addition of the sidewalk, the University plans to lobby the city for a crosswalk. The crosswalk would be similar to the one on Thurstin Ave. The crosswalk would run across Mercer to Alumni Drive.