 "Photo: Matt Moss/Staff Photographer")
If all goes according to plan, the recent construction to the Route 18 extension project should mark an improvement to the traffic patterns between campuses. Nonetheless, as Director of Parking and Transportation Services Robert Spear warns, the full effect will not be known until after the roads withstand a full level of traffic between campuses.
The main change for students coming back from the summer will be the opening of the four-lane bridge connecting the Busch and College Avenue campuses. Because of eliminated traffic lights and exit ramps, Spear said he expects the traffic to flow a lot more quickly through Route 18.
However, for at least another month, traffic will delay northbound lanes to Busch campus.
Because of an engineering problem, one of the northbound lanes will not be finished for one month, Spear said. That leaves only one narrow lane, which Spear believes will cause drivers to slow down on their way up the road.
Spear also warns passengers using the circle to enter Busch campus that police are enforcing speed limits.
A new entrance to Livingston campus connecting Hoes Lane and Avenue E has also been created, which could make traveling time to College Avenue a total of six minutes.
"Leaving Livingston campus will be a dream," Spear said.
The one concern will be for travelers leaving Livingston on Avenue E who want to turn left onto Route 18. Spear said they are still unsure of how much traffic will get backed up by the traffic light while they are waiting to turn,
Changes for the Buses?
The main change for the University bus system will be for the A and H buses, which will no longer stop by the parking lots near the football stadium as they enter and exit Busch campus. "PATS felt the [stops] didn't serve enough students," he said. "Nobody seemed to want to go to College Avenue [from these lots]. They wanted to go to Busch."
Spear said the routes for the L, LX and B buses could change depending on how the traffic flows from Avenue E onto Route 18. Spear said if the traffic on Avenue E is not backed up, these buses could take Route 18 from Livingston.
The second phase of the project is the widening of Route 18 from Route 1 and Route 27 near Douglass campus, which is expected to create serious traffic problems.
Spear said the project is still on schedule to begin early next year, but he is keeping his focus on finishing the extension phase before the widening project is set to begin.
The last implementation to the construction will be the bicycle paths, which Spear said will be completed next summer.
The Scheduling Impact
In order to prepare for the problems that will come during next year's construction for the widening project, the University implemented changes including barring students from taking back-to-back classes on different campuses.
"Back-to-back classes on different campuses always has caused a problem," Spear said. "Students would leave 10 minutes early and arrive 10 minutes late for their next one."
Spear said the University has always discouraged students from scheduling classes on different campuses because it creates disruption for traffic between class periods.
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