Beginning next fall, LSU students will have only two on-campus transportation options: walk or ride. The change is part of a five-year, $22 million reconstruction plan created by the LSU Transportation Department that will effectively close the campus off from thru traffic in an attempt to ensure pedestrian safety. Under the plan, security booths and gates will be placed at the intersections of nine major campus streets, including North and South Stadium Drives and Tower Road, closing them to all outside traffic with the exceptions of faculty, staff, public transportation and emergency service vehicles. While it may inconvenience some, Gary Graham, director of the Office of Parking, Traffic, and Transportation, said he sees the move as long overdue. “Right now, some parts of the LSU campus aren’t very pedestrian-friendly,” said Graham. “By re-routing the streets, we hope to close up the campus and create a controlled traffic environment to protect the safety of our students and staff.” These changes are already in effect, with construction crews working to place a security booth and large wooden gate at the intersection of North Stadium Road and Fieldhouse Drive within the next few weeks. By summer’s end, the same traffic restrictions will be found at the ends of Forestry Lane, South Stadium and Tower Roads, as well as South Campus and Dalrymple Drive, all of which school transportation officials identified as “potentially unsafe areas.” “We’ve had safety concerns about several places on campus, most notably the areas near the Cox Center and Tiger Stadium,” Graham said. “There were just too many vehicles traveling these routes, which increased the chances for a serious traffic accident.” With most of the campus closed to thru traffic, Graham said he hopes students will take advantage of the University’s public transportation system, including buses that will deliver students across campus in 5 minutes or less. Transportation officials said the result will be a more secure, self-contained campus that will help create the cohesive college atmosphere that a prominent school such as LSU deserves. “The new traffic plan works for both aesthetic and safety reasons,” said LSU Office of Facility Development project manager Dennis Mitchell. “It will give LSU the feel of a unified college campus.” Despite the changes, residence hall and outer campus parking lots will remain open, providing options for students who still wish to drive. These facilities will be bolstered by the addition of new eight parking garages to be built on the outskirts of campus by 2008. Graham said he hopes the moves will demonstrate the University’s commitment to meeting the growing parking needs of its students in the safest way possible. “They need to know that we’re doing this not to cause parking headaches but to make LSU a safe environment for pedestrians,” Graham said. To achieve that, the Transportation Department has started working with Student Government to bring the project full circle. While Graham’s office will head up planning and construction, SG will take on a primarily informational role, distributing the new campus traffic schematics in mass e-mails as well as packets containing student’s new parking tags. “The objective of Student Government in this situation is to educate all students about the changes,” said SG Chief of Staff Ryan Berni. “It’s important for students to know that come fall, the campus will be a very, very different but also safer place.” Despite Berni’s best efforts, many students view the road changes as a nuisance and question the usefulness of tampering with a University traffic system they say is perfectly safe. “I just don’t see the point,” said Katelin Foti, a freshman English major. “Why permanently block off these streets just because they’re occasionally busy? If traffic is such an issue, why not create more routes rather than shutting all the students out of campus?” Others, like junior mass communication major Jina Dehghanpir, don’t have a problem with the new changes, although she said she can see why some object. “The plan works for me because I ride the bus,” Dehghanpir said. “But for those who depend on their cars for transportation, it’s going to be an inconvenience.” Until the new garages are constructed, Mitchell said he thinks the existing lots will be enough to accommodate the majority of LSU commuters. As for the re-routing changes, project officials are confident that any confusion over the new traffic changes will quickly pass. “At first, the traffic changes may come as a big surprise,” Graham said. “But I believe that in the end, the majority of people will come to appreciate the positive change it brings to campus.”
_____Contact Joe Ehrich at jehrich@lsureveille.com