The U’s roads are becoming trickier to navigate through all the construction, so the administration wants to help students with their daily commutes.
The U has set up a Web site, constructionimpacts.utah.edu, to inform the public of the regular changes of roads’ accessibility. This Web site provides images of the construction zones and notifies students and faculty of the dates and duration of each substantial project.
Among its other projects, the U is constructing the new Sorenson Molecular Biotechnology Building on the old golf course, and extension of the U Hospital, and replacing high-temperature pipelines in the Health Sciences area of upper campus. The projects are meant to avoid typical maintenance failures, in the case of the pipes, as well as generate economic growth on the campus through the USTAR project.
In recent weeks, the construction projects have shut down Federal Way and narrowed the access to Wasatch Drive and Central Campus Drive, among others.
Mario Merida, a senior chemistry major, said he thinks the Web site has been an aid. Before the site, he struggled getting to work at U Print and Copy Services.
“It is just a pain,” he said. “It’s hard to get to places when there is barely any signs indicating where to go and what streets are going to be closed.”
Mike Perez, vice president for facilities management, said in an e-mail he encouraged students and faculty to bookmark the Web site and check it frequently to avoid the challenges of traversing from one building to the next.