The Facts:The Hillsborough Street rejuvenation project is on track to meet its scheduled completion date for the first phase — September 2010.

Our Opinion:It’s refreshing to see a major renovation project meet its scheduled timeline. The project will be an amazing addition to campus and students should try to see through the cones to what the project will be as the University’s front door.Hillsborough Street is certainly one of the stories of the year. And if you buy into the rhetoric of a changing face for the campus, it could be one for the history books.If nothing else, the street itself is certainly historic; it was part of the original design for the Capital City in 1792 and has been a central corridor on the western side ever since — serving as one of Raleigh’s four main access roads, along with Fayetteville Street, New Bern Avenue and Halifax Street.It is the front door to the University and is an important addition as the campus grows and develops.Hence, it’s encouraging to see the first phase is still scheduled for completion in September 2010. The majority of the campus’s long-term projects seem unable to accomplish this seemingly mythical accomplishment, but it’s refreshing to see the city has taken a different approach.The project is starting to come together, and the timeliness bodes well for the next three phases.Despite many students’ inconveniences during the past two semesters — several of which will doubtlessly continue — the project will truly rejuvenate a street that needs it severely.The Atrium renovation is already running behind and the new Talley Student Center will probably share a similar fate, but the University’s major thoroughfare is developing the way it needs to.Business owners have complained about lost revenue and Hillsborough Street has remained more of a mess that students bargained for. It hasn’t been an easy year for pedestrians or drivers, but it’s setting up a better future.Hopefully, the campus community will look back on this project and remember it as a year of penance for a more user-friendly campus environment in the end.The project still has a significant portion left to complete. But it’s already looking better and the University is getting a vital improvement moving forward.