NO CARS ON THIS DRIVE

University officials said closing a portion of Campus Drive to private cars already seems to be a success, calming down the center of the campus without causing significant traffic problems, but some students said the changes were needlessly inconvenient.

The university shut down the street from Cole Field House to the "M" traffic circle Monday morning as part of an eight-week pilot program to test how the campus handles the conversion of the roadway into a pedestrian plaza, one of the administration's long-term goals.

Temporary concrete blocks now stand in the middle of each lane of Campus Drive, with enough room for buses, delivery trucks and emergency vehicles to pass single-file between them — pushing past bendable plastic barriers — and University Police officers appeared on the scene to redirect confused motorists.

In front of the Stamp Student Union, the road was quiet and nearly empty.

"I had numerous people comment on how great Campus Drive was without all the vehicles," Director of Operations and Maintenance Jack Baker said. "If you walk down Campus Drive, there is a whole new feel to it. I know there was for me. So I invite people to go out and take a look at a pedestrian-friendly Campus Drive."

Officials had announced in April that the road would be shut starting Saturday, and posted signs to that effect around the campus.

But Baker said that leaving the road open to all drivers throughout the weekend — with none of the promised police enforcement impeding their progress and with concrete barriers and "road closed" warning signs lying ignored off to the side of the road — was entirely intentional.

Officials opted to publicize an earlier date to minimize traffic flow while workers prepared to block off the street. Closing the road a few days after the posted date didn't seem to cause any problems, Baker said.

Although some drivers, service workers and even police officers suffered a weekend of confusion, several students agreed with Baker's positive assessment of the closure.

"It's definitely quieter," said psychology graduate student Jeremy Turret, walking near Campus Drive Wednesday. "You don't have to dodge cars. It's nice generally."

Some pedestrians, however, did not like the changes.

"I see empty bus lots and I see no cars," senior geology major Katherine Watter said. "I think that's just wrong."

Motorists who needed to get around the campus didn't face major problems either, said Lt. Jeffrey Killion, who was supervising University Police presence along Campus Drive Monday.

"Most people seemed compliant and understanding," Killion said. "I think the university did a good job getting the word out."

Baker and Killion said traffic around Campus Drive had yet to significantly back up by Wednesday, with normal rush hour traffic as the only congestion.

Visits to the closed road this week have supported that claim. So far this week, traffic has appeared to flow smoothly as drivers were redirected away from the entrances to Campus Drive with no noticeable backups, with the only noticeable hiccups occurring along Union Lane, where the road was reversed from one-way down the hill next to the student union to one-way uphill.

Police officers stationed near the road's barricades — chiefly for "informational purposes" rather than enforcement, Killion said — helped motorists find alternate routes across the campus and, in some cases, yelled to motorists to turn around as they tried to enter the closed portions of roadway. Police will begin ticketing unauthorized drivers today.

Besides those who need to make an emergency drop-off at the University Health Center, all drivers should be taking alternate routes like Fieldhouse Drive or simply entering the campus closer to their destination rather than using the main entrance and driving through the campus' center, Killion said. The university is counting the cars that use various streets to see if drivers will shift from using interior routes as officials hope, Baker said.

Some student drivers said it did not bother them to find an alternative route or follow the posted detours, but the idea that Campus Drive would be closed to cars for the next eight weeks was met with skepticism.

"I think they're making a big mistake, especially with summer classes going on," said Mike Nehmer, an alumnus who graduated last month but returned to the campus Monday to pay a library fine. Nehmer said although he easily rerouted to the parking lots because he knew his way around, he still found it "aggravating."

Other motorists had a more difficult time finding a new route.

"I basically drove through the whole campus before I could get here," junior biology major Karlie Hartman said as she collected her car from the Union Lane parking garage on Monday.

And even some students who did not commute were skeptical about the closure.

"I don't really see the point," senior economics major Brittany Johnson said. "Basically campus altogether is already pedestrian friendly."

The university cares about this feedback, Baker said, and will send out a survey about the closure to students, faculty and staff, he said, and is accepting comments on the Facilities Management website.

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