Penn State Intercom......April
25, 2002
Four public meetings scheduled
to gather
input on Intermodal Transportation concept
The
first of four open forums on a proposed Intermodal Transportation concept
for University Park is scheduled for noon Monday, April 29, in the HUB-Robeson
Center Auditorium. The forums are open to all members of the University
community. Three other forums will be held off-campus primarily for the
general public, but anyone may attend any of the forums. Each meeting
will feature an informational 
presentation
followed by general discussion. The University is looking for feedback
on the Intermodal Transportation concept, which proposes important changes
to the University's pedestrian and vehicular system.
The Intermodal Transportation concept is the University's effort to implement the University Park Campus Master Plan, which was approved by the Board of Trustees in 1999. The plan is the definitive document which provides a blueprint for the future of University Park. It envisions a campus that is more pedestrian-friendly and environmentally sustainable, with less dependence on cars, better mass transit, more use of bicycles and walking, enhanced open spaces and infill instead of sprawl.
To accomplish the fundamental goal of a pedestrian-friendly and safe campus, University planners and consultants have identified a campuswide circulation strategy that is truly intermodal, in which different forms of transportation interrelate effectively. This vision of campus includes many familiar ingredients such as:
* enhanced accommodations for pedestrians and bicyclists;
* design of an efficient transit system;
* conversion of some road areas to "pedestrian-first" zones and transitways;
* control of some vehicular access to core campus;
* consolidation of core-campus surface parking into decks where possible; and
* alternative parking on the periphery with efficient transit service to core campus.
Fundamental to this strategy is the need to address safety problems in core campus, especially between vehicles and pedestrians. Approximately 23,000 pedestrian crossings were counted at the Shortlidge/Pollock Road intersection during a normal, eight-hour weekday period, with about 50 near-misses.
Another basic need is to address vehicular congestion on core campus, which currently diminishes the efficiency of cross-campus transit. The intermodal concept proposes several new concepts aimed at solving these problems. They are:
* creation of a people-oriented Pollock Mall between Burrowes and Shortlidge roads including the HUB Plaza, a major new gathering space;
* creation of a Curtin Road transitway from Allen to Bigler roads to maximize efficiency and effectiveness of the bus system;
* creation of the Shortlidge Mall, a pedestrian-first zone between the Ritenour parking lot and Eisenhower Auditorium. The mall would increase pedestrian safety at an important crossing adjacent to the new chemistry and life sciences buildings;
* consolidation of core campus parking to decks where possible, with employee parking within a five- to 10-minute walk of final destinations;
* provision of low- or no-cost parking alternatives on the periphery of campus with efficient bus service to core campus; and
* creation of transit stations to allow riders to change from regional to campus routes (CATA, Loop, Link).
Over the past year, McCormick Taylor Associates, expert consultants in traffic management, ran a feasibility study on all of these concepts. They determined that the proposed concepts are feasible for traffic impacts, and that this combination of changes would significantly enhance pedestrian safety and transit efficiency.
The Intermodal Transportation concept offers a forward-looking approach with numerous benefits -- from increasing pedestrian safety and ambience to offering alternative parking options to creating a more environmentally sustainable campus.
This may be the first time since the conversion of Allen Street to Pattee Mall around 1940 that such significant transportation changes have been proposed at University Park. It is important that these changes be understood and discussed in detail at the upcoming public meetings. The Intermodal Transportation concept is a work in progress and needs community input.