Road Improvements at SBU
Work to improve University roads and add a campus loop to the Allegheny River Valley Trail is expected to begin in 2009, University officials said Thursday.
The approximately $2.5 million project is possible thanks to federal funding in the 2005 Transportation Bill. Standard processes to ensure that the project’s federal funds are administered and spent properly at the local level are nearly complete. The money will be disbursed by the New York State Department of Transportation.
The focus for the rest of 2008 is on project design, environmental review and public comment, “tasks that will take all of this summer and fall,” said Phil Winger, associate vice president for facilities at St. Bonaventure.
One of the project highlights is creating a loop of the recreation trail on campus, from the existing section of the recreation trail near the main campus entrance on Route 417 to the portion of the trail by the river behind Francis Hall. The exact route has yet to be determined, Winger said.
“The new trail will provide the public with a short-loop variant of the river trail,” Winger said. “And it provides St. Bonaventure with a new pedestrian/bike connection from the townhouses to the main campus.”
Plans also call for:
· a new home near Doyle Hall for the University’s Office of Safety and Security; a portion of the new building will include restroom facilities for recreation trail users.
· the straightening of Clare Road, which runs through the woods between Francis Hall on the east side of campus to the five-way intersection just east of Doyle Hall.
· reworking of the parking and five-way intersection near Doyle Hall.
· a new access road near the center of campus at the Reilly Center.
· additional parking for trail users.
· repaving and road restoration at various locations around campus.
“We hope the project is finished by the end of 2009, but given the potential for weather and other unforeseen delays, we certainly can’t promise that,” Winger said.
The approximately $2.5 million project is possible thanks to federal funding in the 2005 Transportation Bill. Standard processes to ensure that the project’s federal funds are administered and spent properly at the local level are nearly complete. The money will be disbursed by the New York State Department of Transportation.
The focus for the rest of 2008 is on project design, environmental review and public comment, “tasks that will take all of this summer and fall,” said Phil Winger, associate vice president for facilities at St. Bonaventure.
One of the project highlights is creating a loop of the recreation trail on campus, from the existing section of the recreation trail near the main campus entrance on Route 417 to the portion of the trail by the river behind Francis Hall. The exact route has yet to be determined, Winger said.
“The new trail will provide the public with a short-loop variant of the river trail,” Winger said. “And it provides St. Bonaventure with a new pedestrian/bike connection from the townhouses to the main campus.”
Plans also call for:
· a new home near Doyle Hall for the University’s Office of Safety and Security; a portion of the new building will include restroom facilities for recreation trail users.
· the straightening of Clare Road, which runs through the woods between Francis Hall on the east side of campus to the five-way intersection just east of Doyle Hall.
· reworking of the parking and five-way intersection near Doyle Hall.
· a new access road near the center of campus at the Reilly Center.
· additional parking for trail users.
· repaving and road restoration at various locations around campus.
“We hope the project is finished by the end of 2009, but given the potential for weather and other unforeseen delays, we certainly can’t promise that,” Winger said.
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