By Lisa M. Rosellini
Public Information
Planners continue to fine tune the direction development on the
University Park campus will take. The process has been guided by heavy input
from the community that has asked for improved safety for pedestrians, better
traffic flow and reasonable parking options.
After more than a year of open meetings and conversations on a plan that will map out the physical development of the campus over the next 25 to 30 years, planners say the process should culminate in December of this year with a final report to the Board of Trustees in the early part of 1999. In the report, planners will outline key principles and design guidelines that will serve as the foundation for improvement and future expansion at University Park.
In two public meetings on May 7, Dick Rigterink, a principal with Johnson, Johnson & Roy -- the lead consultants hired to update the master plan -- said the plan will emphasize the campus' links to the community through its use of green space and pedestrian corridors. The master plan also relies heavily on Penn State's roots as a land-grant institution and its mission to support teaching, research and service as the basis for guiding the campus's physical appearance in the decades to come.
Rigterink said there are three significant components to the plan that look at opportunities and alternatives and help balance construction patterns to preserve the character of the campus. The components include: a composite plan, which identifies opportunities for future development and takes a broad view of development on campus; key principles and design guidelines, that tie into Penn State's overall mission and will serve as the foundation for expanding and improving the campus; and subcampus plans that look at three key areas of the University Park campus in greater detail.
In the composite plan, several refinements since it was first presented last November have been made, among them changes in traffic flow and parking. Overall, the plan calls for more green space and an eventual shift of the academic area eastward (toward the stadium).
Under the 25-to-30-year plan, consultants suggest closing several roads to vehicles and allowing pedestrians and bicycles to take over those routes. These closings can be phased in over time, as need warrants. One road suggested for closure is Shortlidge Road from Pollock to Curtin roads (the stretch of roadway past the Joab Thomas Building and Eisenhower Auditorium to Agricultural Administration).
In a pedestrian traffic study done in late April, consultants found that 23,000 students crossed this section of Shortlidge between 7:45 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. At the change of class, between 1,200 and 1,500 pedestrians crossed that area in the 15-minute time period.
"We need to make this a pedestrian-friendly campus and due to the high volume of pedestrians here, this area deserves special treatment," Rigterink said.
One of three major visitor entry points to campus would be at North Atherton and Pollock Road (where the concrete lion gates are), up to Burrowes Street. The remainder of Pollock would be closed to traffic. Other entrances to campus would be the intersection of Shortlidge Road and College Avenue; and the intersection of Shortlidge and Park Avenue.
The planners, who also recommend closing Curtin Road to automobiles, said access by emergency and service vehicles would not be a problem because drivers of these vehicles can still get to buildings from the remaining roads in the system. The closure of roads will definitely change the traffic patterns in and around campus, something the consultants say is necessary for the safety of students. The consultants are looking at several key intersections that will be impacted by the road closings and their current problems. Among the roads being studied are the crossing of Beaver Avenue and Atherton Street. Problems with congestion here, consultants said, can be solved by removing six curbside parking spaces along Beaver and creating another turn lane.
At the intersection of North Atherton and Park Avenue, problems can be mitigated by the construction of the Eastern Inner Loop, according to consultants. The inner loop is a plan being discussed by local governments to create a road that would divert traffic around the University and State College. The master plan calls for the inner loop to be further out than University Drive, but to swing back in to intersect with Route 26 (East College Avenue). Under the plan, the loop would cross the proposed arboretum in the Big Hollow area at the narrowest point to limit the environmental impact.
The intersections of Park Avenue and Shortlidge Road and Atherton Street and College Avenue were two other areas where traffic hits a choke point. Consultants suggested that some of these traffic problems would be solved if people took alternative transportation, such as a bus or bicycle. The consultants also said the local transit system needs some additional refinements in order to entice more riders -- enticements such as more amenities at stops, improved travel times, possible employer reimbursement and an integrated regional system.
Parking, which is always a hot issue, according to Rigterink, is addressed in the master plan by the possibility of adding parking decks at various sites. The parking deck initially proposed for West Campus (across North Atherton), has been relocated. Instead of a parking deck, that area of West Campus will now house more engineering research buildings. Behind these will be graduate student housing. The parking deck is now planned for an area near the intersection of Atherton and West College Avenue (between Burrowes and Atherton, in the vicinity of Kinko's Copy Center).
"We are recommending a 'just-in-case' concept -- certain areas where parking decks can go, just in case," Rigterink said. "We have been operating under the idea that if we remove an existing parking space in the area between Atherton and Bigler, we will replace it."
Rigterink said employees would have to walk no more than 10 minutes from their parking spaces to the buildings where they work. Another parking deck could be placed in Lot 80, off of Bigler Road. The area of Lot 80 also will be designated as green space, allowing it to relate to the arboretum across the street.
The three subcampus areas to be studied in closer detail are: the "science block," a 24-acre stretch which contains a number of buildings such as Mueller, Pond, Buckhout and Fenske laboratories; the 21-acre "ag block," now parking Lot 80; and the 18-acre area in and around the Hammond Building.
Additional campus and community reviews of the master plan will be held in July and December as these subcampus plans are further developed. A final report on the entire plan will be published in both print and electronic media. In addition to JJR, other consultants on the project include KCF/SHG, architects out of Washington, D.C., Travers firm of New Jersey and BRW from Minneapolis, both transportation consulting groups.