Construction has begun on phase one of the Easy Streets II program, designed to ease traffic around campus.
The bulk of the construction will occur around Dalrymple Drive, Infirmary Road and Cypress Drive.
A major feature of the first phase includes new “sharrows” — shared roadway bicycle markings — designed to encourage more students to bike to campus.
Parking in the Tower Drive area will be closed to B Plan parkers. Traffic will be allowed, but will be limited to one lane with flagmen managing the flow of cars during construction.
Parking on Tower Drive from South Stadium Drive will also be eliminated in order to create a safer corridor for pedestrians and provide additional bicycle access.
According to Director of Parking, Traffic and Transportation Gary S. Graham, the bulk of the construction is being done to improve pedestrian safety throughout campus.
“This plan was approved after a study three years ago — we’re only just now being able to get to it,” Graham said.
According to Graham, all of the construction is anticipated to be done by the time the fall semester starts, which is one of the main reasons the Easy Streets plan was split into two phases.
“It was so late in the summer that all the bidding was done and all the paperwork had been completed that we didn’t think we’d be able to do the whole project in one go-round,” Graham said. “So the decision was made to split it into two phases, with phase two being completed next summer.”
The second phase of Easy Streets II will address pedestrian problems around the South Campus Drive and South Stadium Drive portion of campus.