SBU's roads to undergo facelift
Henry Balling IV
Issue date: 2/26/10 Section: News
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Image courtesy of Sara Regal
Some of the current antiquated roads may be replaced over the summer because of pothole and drainage problems, Phil Winger, associate vice president for facilities, said.
The current loop which runs from the main entrance across from Constitution Avenue past the bell tower, around the Reilly Center past Plassmann Hall to Union Street has not been replaced since the 1960s, Winger said.
"It started out as a dirt path," Winger said. "Gravel was added, and then asphalt was put on top."
The lack of a modern, well-designed road system has resulted in poor drainage, producing many of the potholes on campus, Winger said.
Some students have complained of suspension, alignment and tire damage to their cars from driving around campus.
Brad Randall, a senior journalism and mass communication major, said he knows the implications of poor drainage all too well.
"My car is back home getting fixed," Randall said "There's over $2,300 in damage from a big pothole I dinged. I racked my suspension."
Federal grant money and $400,000 in university funds will go toward revamping the current roads, Winger said.
"In 2007, we received $2 million in federal grants to do some access upgrades," he said.
The plan to dig out the roads, replace them and add other improvements is currently in the final stages of development by the state government. Work will hopefully begin by the end of June, Winger said.
The current upgrades call for new roads from the main entrance, past the Reilly Center and Plassmann Hall to the Union Street entrance, as well as a new small building and a continuation of the Allegheny River Trail.
The new building is planned to be built between Doyle and Francis halls.
"It'll be a small building with public safety information in it, as well as a public restroom," Winger said.
This can serve as a warming station for students walking from Francis Hall in the winter, Winger said. It will also offer patrons of baseball and softball games at the university a place to use a restroom.
The plans also call for an extension of the Allegheny River Trail behind the Townhouses to run along the front lawn of campus, parallel to Rt. 417, Winger said. The new section will also be well-lit.
"This way, you won't have to walk your baby stroller five miles around campus," he said. "There will be a two-and-a-half-mile circuit. It won't be so dark and spooky."
While university officials have been anxious to get to work on updating the campus, they face some bureaucratic obstacles, Winger said. Among them, the New York Historical Preservation Society needed to excavate near the Ho Chi Mihn Trail, which runs through the woods past Francis Hall.
Artifacts dating back to the prehistoric period may be destroyed unintentionally during construction, so the state mandated an environmental impact statement to be taken, Winger said. This was completed during the fall semester, in part by a local university.
Students and faculty from the University at Buffalo found artifacts in the process, according to the St. Bonaventure's Web site.
"The pottery shards that were unearthed date to the Middle Woodland period (circa A.D. 500). Commonly associated with habitation sites, they are made of local clay with grit added for tempering," according to the Web site.
Ethan Fisher, owner of a 1999 Audi A4, said his car gets daily abuse from the roads.
"Any car that drives here is going to feel it," Fisher said. " I don't care if you drive a monster truck: You're doing some damage."
e-mail: ballinghj@sbu.edu
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