Whitley traffic congestion prompts new road discussion

Issues of traffic flow have prompted discussions to construct a road from Whitley Hall to U.S. Highway 24/50.

The Office of Facilities has been in discussion about how to alleviate the problem of clusters of cars at various points in the day, hoping to create a better pattern for drivers, and presented the idea at a city council meeting in March.

"The proposal is to add a drive from Whitley Hall parking lot to State Highway 24/50, west of Whitley Hall," Facilities Project Manager James C. Patton said. "It would take traffic off of Culver Street."

Students and employees at Whitley Hall have had a difficult time entering and exiting from the driveway because of the traffic flow from Culver stemming from 24/50.

"The longest I've had to wait for the cross traffic to come through was about six to seven minutes," sophomore music education major Tyler Joyce said.

The timing of the four-way traffic light at the highway 24/50-Culver intersection has been known to create uneven traffic patterns, which has resulted in inconveniently long waits for some drivers.

"It would reduce the number of vehicles trying to turn left from West Neal Street onto Culver," Patton said. "The city has approved the concept but we need approval from TxDOT before anything else can be done."

The proposition was motivated by a general concern for the safety and convenience of drivers.

"There wasn't a particular event that prompted the proposal; rather, it was the result of general discussions about reducing traffic congestion around Whitley Hall," Patton said.

Some students think that such a road would reduce the risk of pedestrian injury around Whitley Hall.

"It wasn't too bad trying to get out of the lot because I always took the sidewalk on my bike or commuted on foot," junior music education Sarah Evans said. "I don't really know much about it driving wise because I was always riding a bike or walking, but I do know not everyone obeyed the whole ‘pedestrians have the right-of-way' thing, as shown by Michael Swann being hit last year."

The new road would not interfere with university band practices.

"The proposed road doesn't interfere with the band practice field in any way, but would probably alleviate a lot of the congestion after band practice," Patton said.

There is no definite time frame for the project's approval.

"If the President decides he wants to pursue the project, we will have a civil engineer design the project, bid out and then hire a contractor to do the work," Patton said. "All of that would take some time."