Construction has already engulfed campus in a cloud of dust and exhaust fumes, and it’s only the first day of the fall semester.
The University plans to continue its construction with another residence hall, accompanying parking lot and road resurfacing over the course of the semester, in line with plans first discussed in 2008.
Throughout everything, Director of Parking and Transportation Services Gary Graham said he has kept the ideals of a pedestrian campus at the forefront.
But after the most recent bout of road resurfacing, which Graham said would include bike lanes on Dalrymple, they are nowhere to be found.
Added greenery and slanted parking spots to slow traffic abound, but this plan left cyclists by the wayside.
Some might argue the financial burden is too much, but adding one white line to a road that already exists and is wide enough to accommodate a four-foot-wide lane is worth much more in the long run.
The overall effort so far has been admirable, though. There is a plan in place to complete more bike lanes by the end of the year, but how can we trust that the University will hold true to this promise if Dalrymple remains unmarked for cyclists?
A truly pedestrian-friendly campus is also an impossible goal if no one pays attention to the larger lack of mass transit options in Baton Rouge.
If there is no easy way to access campus besides driving a car, people will choose to buy a parking pass and forgo other options.
Sure, Tiger Trails services the area immediately around campus, and the Capital Area Transit System helps students from greater Baton Rouge access classes. But both of these services are full to bursting at popular commute times, which points to the necessity of more facilities.
For now, though, too many students, faculty and staff attempt to fill up the University’s more than 23,000 parking spots daily.
How many times have you or a friend been late to class because of the insanity of far-away parking, or has it taken twice as long to
arrive at campus on a weekday morning than any other time?
If you drive down Nicholson, maybe you’ve gazed at the bike trail between the road and the rail lines and wished you could hop out of your car and pass all the suckers paying for so much gas.
But if you actually did, sure, you would ride safely down that main road, but as soon as you reached campus you would be out of luck.
Turning a car-centric city and campus into one friendly to public transport and pedestrian traffic is not an issue with an easy fix. It is something that takes a shift in mindset and taxpayer dollars.
The University is on the right track, as is Baton Rouge, but neither has reached the tipping point yet.
Advocacy and discussion are still necessary, as evidenced by the close call with CATS funding this summer.
In the end, CATS received boosted federal funding due to the advocacy of Baton Rouge citizens and Mayor-President Kip Holden.
The funds will avert a shut down that would have hit during October of this year.
This might teach local government to take more proactive measures when it comes to mass transit, and serve as a cautionary tale to Graham and others associated with the University.
So get us to the tipping point LSU. Turn us into a campus where pedestrians aren’t afraid of cyclists mowing them down on cracked sidewalks and LSU Facilities trucks are less likely to hit students pedaling their way to class.
A good place to start would be not failing to deliver on a promise of bike lanes.
Megan Dunbar is a 20-year-old English senior from Greenville, SC.