It’s no surprise the University’s infrastructure suffers as budget cuts deepen. Now, however, the University’s finances may affect Student Government initiatives.
At SG’s Student Auxiliaries and Services meeting on Feb. 29, Sen. Lauren Accardo brought up a complaint voiced by many students: potholes near Kirby Smith Hall. Accardo lives in Kirby Smith, and she says the potholes pose major concerns for students who live in the area.
“I know that within our Kirby Smith Hall, that many people have thought of the potholes as a safety hazard,” she said. “Literally everyone who drives through the parking lot comments on how bad the condition is.”
Accardo and fellow senator Mallory Knudsen, who is also a Kirby Smith resident, reached out to LSU Parking and Transportation Services two weeks ago to address the issue and began drafting legislation to fix the pothole problem. However, they were told by the parking office that a permanent solution could not be implemented until the end of the special legislative session when the department was more aware of its financial standings.
Parking and Transportation introduced temporary fixes in the meantime, such as filling the potholes with gravel. However, because of recent severe weather, Accardo said these temporary fixes are not working.
“They filled the holes with rocks, but after the rainstorms, the rocks were washed out, so the potholes are back again,” Accardo said.
Knudsen said, not only has she seen the preexisting potholes near Kirby Smith pop up again, but now she has noticed new potholes following last week’s severe storms, specifically a large pothole near the Tiger Band practice facilities.
“It’s pretty new, and it’s huge,” Knudsen said. “You could probably bang up a car pretty bad if you hit it.”
Director of Parking and Transportation Jeff Campbell said in an email since the special session ended, the department is making progress on a permanent solution to the potholes and should begin filling them within the next two weeks.
Although he does not know all of the effects the budget shortfall will have on his department, Campbell said it decided to begin filling the potholes anyway because the solution would be more cost-effective than originally thought.
“We have a scheduled project to do some work in Kirby [Smith] as soon as approved and the contractor can get to it,” Campbell said. “We still don’t have a complete idea of the budget, but we are moving on the Kirby project because it is extremely bad.”