Two committees presented their proposals for improving our campus for students and faculty at the Physical Environment Committee.
The Parking and Transportation Committee proposed their Bicycle and Pedestrian plan. The goals of this plan include engaging campus community, increasing safety for bicyclists and pedestrians, as well as improving campus green space environment and identifying important opportunities for improvement.
Proposed improvements for bicyclists included widening bike lanes, building bike stations throughout campus, increasing bike parking and lowering curbs on sidewalks. Bike lanes have recently been installed on Hillsborough Street, but members of the committee felt they have not been used because they are too narrow and are not safe.
“I’m terrified of the bike lanes on Hillsborough street,” Hayden Brislin , sophomore in plant biology, said. “Either I hit a parked car on my right, or I get hit by a moving car on my left. There’s simply not enough space.”
Members of the Physical Environment Committee debated petitioning for the removal of paid parking along Hillsborough Street in order to widen the bike lanes, but fear the opposition of faculty and students.
Another solution for University bikers is to build “cycle tracks” – a track for bikes slightly elevated above the road but below the sidewalk – between the road and the sidewalk. The only issue with this solution is that it will be very expensive to build, as it will be necessary to move light poles, drains and other fixtures.
When asked if funding for these projects would be an issue, Trevor Little, chair of the Physical Environment Committee, was confident that it would not.
“The city of Raleigh is very responsive. The projects we pursue are usually considered to be small projects. Small projects like ours are in a completely different pot than the big projects, such as the rebuilding of the Talley Student Center and so on,” Little said.
Pedestrians are a huge part of University campus, and the Bicyclist and Pedestrian Plan provided several solutions to make pedestrian traffic safer. Pedestrian countdown signals, high visibility crosswalks and signs reminding drivers to yield to pedestrians were all ideas proposed by the Parking and Transportation Committee.
The Parking and Transportation Committee has several projects in motion, some of which have already been completed (such as the new sidewalk built on Varsity Drive). The intersection of Western Boulevard and Avent Ferry will be made safer for crossing pedestrians, Hillsborough Street bicycle facilities will be built, and a new bike locker rental program will be established within (the committee hopes) the next few years.
The Campus Planning and Design Committee presented their plan for the transfer of the Gregg Museum of Art and Design from Talley Student Center to the Chancellor’s house in Pullen Park. Rachel Patrick, head of the Campus Planning and Design Committee, illustrated in her presentation the building to serve as an addition to the Chancellor’s home, serving as a gallery for the museum’s art.
Patrick said the Gregg Museum of Art and Design is being moved to Pullen Park not only for the expansion of the museum, but also to join it with the Pullen Park Arts Center and the Theatre in the Park: Raleigh, N.C . Performing Arts and Entertainment.
Patrick said moving the Gregg Museum of Art and Design will create an “arts neighborhood,” and attract more visitors. However, it may do just the opposite. Some students feel that moving the museum will attract less N.C . State students.
“I have never actually visited the [Gregg] museum, even when it was on campus,” Charlotte Pennington, senior in environmental technology, said. “I think students will forget the museum even exists because it won’t be right under their noses anymore.”
The plan for the Gregg Museum will go along with the Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan, as the museum will include a pedestrian plaza, a sculpture walk, paths and trails through the gardens, and a completely separate entrance for pedestrians.
