Walking Path Closures Due To UK Campus Construction Announced

From the University of Kentucky:

August 14, 2020

By Meg Mills

Those coming to the University of Kentucky campus should be aware of several walking path closures due to campus construction projects. Funkhouser Drive, Library Drive and portions of Rose street will be fenced off with no access to pedestrians. This includes the walkways between Funkhouser and Breckinridge Hall as well as others. Facilities Management, working in collaboration with Transportation Services, Environmental Health and Safety and the Office of Institutional Equity, has developed an accessible route around the site as well as signage to assist with campus navigation. The map of the route will be placed at multiple points around the perimeter of the construction zone.

The closures are due to the modernization of UK”s Chemistry-Physics Building, utility work on Rose Street and the extension of Library Drive to Washington Avenue.

“While this is an inconvenience, it is necessary to improve our campus,” said Mary Vosevich, UK’s vice president for facilities management. “In the land swap with the city, UK acquired Rose Street with the goal of enhancing safety and the campus experience by converting a section to a pedestrian-only area. Before we can make that happen, we needed to update the utility infrastructure under the street. This is the first step in being able to enhance the whole area. The modernization of Chemistry-Physics will bring state-of-the-art teaching and research facilities to our faculty and students in these disciplines.”

The extension of Library Drive will improve campus vehicular circulation and is necessary to the permanent closure of Rose Street to all vehicular traffic except emergency vehicles.

In addition to signage placed around the site, several other pedestrian improvements were made along the alternative route. The sidewalk on the south side of Washington Avenue between Rose Street and Gladstone is being widened from 4 feet to 10 feet, crosswalks and pedestrian-only zones are being added behind the Slone Research Building and a mid-block crossing has been added to Washington Avenue between Slone and the College of Public Health.

It is anticipated that completion of Library Drive will be the end of September.

For more information visit https://construction.uky.edu/updates.aspx.

This press release was produced by the University of Kentucky. The views expressed here are the author’s own.