Officials Work to Limit Gridlock During Construction

In coordination with the Ramshead project, construction has expanded onto Ridge Road to accommodate the new parking deck planned for South Campus.

The Ramshead parking deck, which is scheduled to be completed in 2005, will be a three-level parking complex with 700 parking spaces and proposed shopping and recreation facilities.

"We are doing utility work required to be done for the site," said Tim Saunders, assistant director for transportation with the Department of Public Safety. "Services on Ridge Road have to be upgraded and, in some cases, relocated."

Jon Watson of Rifenberg Construction, which is working on the construction of the parking deck with Midatlantic Construction, also said Stadium Drive should be back to its original state by Winter Break.

"(There will be) work on Ridge Road off and on until mid-January," he said. "The area (of road) right in front of the construction site will be clamped down until the end of the construction."

Because the construction ultimately limits access to two major roads on campus, contractors planned their construction to minimize inconvenience.

"We looked at how the building project will be handled as far as traffic," Saunders said. "We tried to confine work hours to times when they'll have least impact."

Jeff McCracken, deputy director of DPS, said that officials try to reduce lane closures but that if they have to close a lane, they try to start later and end early to avoid the morning and afternoon rush hour.

But heavy traffic has not been the only problem caused by the construction on campus.

"Most complaints have been from pedestrian students who have had to be shifted or moved to an alternate path," Saunders said.

Because of construction, the pedestrian path from Morrison Residence Hall to Stadium Drive has been fenced in, resulting in limited access for students.

"There is going to be significant pedestrian accesses behind bars," Saunders said. "Major utilities will unfortunately limit pedestrian activity around Morrison.

"We are making sure we have adequate detours and pedestrian routes,."

Many students who walk along these routes on their way to and from classes have complained about the lack of maneuverability space.

"It's created a bottleneck," said freshman Liz Mihalik.

"Transportation is complicated when bikes and pedestrians are in the same area."

But Sanders explained that the construction will actually help pedestrians in the future.

"There are interruptions, but a lot of pedestrian paths will be restored, and some will be improved."

The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.