Juniper Road will no longer divide the campus if a road project
proposed by University planners wins approval.
The
University also is proposing a realignment of Edison Road with
Angela Boulevard at the south end of campus and building a public
park-like area to be called the Town Common where the campus meets
the Northeast Neighborhood.
Juniper is the north-south road that runs between the stadium
and the Joyce Center. It separates the central part of campus
from a growing number of facilities on the east side. Notre Dame
wants to remove the portion that runs through campus and relocate
traffic onto an improved roadway to the east.
The latest proposals,
which have drawn mostly positive public comments from residents,
call for a new roadway to begin between the campus and Ivy Road,
continue south through mostly University-owned properties behind
the houses on the west side of Ivy and then reconnect with Ivy
near the softball stadium and tennis pavilion.
University
planners want to vacate Juniper for several reasons, primarily
to keep the campus from sprawling. But there's also concern about
the increased number of pedestrians crossing the road. A 61-year-old
female employee was injured in February crossing Juniper when
she was struck by a vehicle. She suffered a fractured skull and
was hospitalized, but the injury was not considered life-threatening.
Traffic congestion
along Juniper and the potential for accidents figure only to increase.
Most students and employees already park in lots east of the road,
and the area has been the focus of much new construction in recent
decades. The next huge addition will be the $70 million Jordan
Hall of Science, going up in front of the Rolfs Sports Recreation
Center. That building is expected to be completed in 2006.
Notre Dame officials
have been studying the pros and cons of closing Juniper for at
least three years, and public meetings with residents began last
fall. The University has emphasized it wants to minimize the impact
on local residents, which is why earlier proposals that called
for simply widening Ivy Road -- and which would have required
moving or demolishing several homes -- have now been all but abandoned.
Saint Joseph County
would require the University to pay for the project, which is
expected to cost at least $10 million. The plan must be still
approved by Saint Joseph County Council. A vote is expected this
spring or summer.
The Town Common proposed for the south end of campus would become
the front yard of the Marie P. DeBartolo Center for the Performing
Arts, scheduled to be completed this spring. The park also would
adjoin a stretch of Eddy Street that the University and community
organizations have long proposed redeveloping into a more typical
"college town" retail district.
* * *
(April 2004)
