Campus road to get summer makeover

After students leave the Luther campus for the summer, the Facilities staff will continue the effort to increase the fluidity of traffic around campus.

A newly paved road will stretch from the parking lot behind Main past Loyalty Hall and Larsen Hall to intersect with High Street near Koren. The current road coming from Leif Erikson Drive will be repaved to its new intersection with High Street.

“It will make the loop around campus better,” Rich Tenneson, director of facilities services said. “It will eliminate the funny intersection at Leif Erikson, and it will be much more safe.”

The project also includes plans to add parking space near Koren and Leif Erikson Drive. According to some students, the extra parking will be much appreciated.

“A lot of times, students who live in Larsen or students visiting Health Services can’t find parking,” Marcus Barlow (‘11) said. “I’ve heard some residents have to park by Farwell or even Regents because a lot of the parking behind Larsen is only for staff.”

The road project is the second phase of a larger project aiming to decrease roads on Luther’s interior campus and create more lawn space, according to Tenneson. The first phase of the project was to remove the road that once ran between the Dahl Centennial Union and Campus House and cover the area with sod with the summer of 2008.

Tenneson said that this phase of the road project will be funded by students’ vehicle permit and traffic violation fees.

Like the first road project, construction will begin immediately after graduation and continue through the summer. The road’s makeover will improve traffic flow for fall 2009.