Changing walking routes frustrates students, wastes time
Many students and faculty are becoming more aggravated as the semester progresses as we all have to find new ways to get to buildings and classes on campus. A good deal of construction on and around campus has caused new paths for one getting around.
The first change I noticed this semester was the fence that was put up in the middle of Assembly Street in front of the Carolina Coliseum. This new fence has affected me personally more than any construction because I take a majority of my classes in this building and nearly hurt myself the first day it was up.
Normally in the past, I parked at the meters on the opposite side of Assembly, checked for traffic both ways and crossed the road.
One morning I parked with five minutes left until my class started, got to the street and realized a fence stood between me and the Coliseum in the center of the road.
After deciding that walking to the intersection of Blossom and Assembly would make me late, I was determined to hop the new fence.
A large traffic cone laid on its side served as my step and I climbed up to jump. When I jumped the fence, my jeans got caught on the top of a fence post, and I tumbled to the ground as the leg of my pants ripped down the back. Embarrassed, I went to class furious at whoever decided a fence in the middle of Assembly Street was a good idea.
I understand the safety caution that everyone is supposed to cross the road at an intersection crosswalk, but any change in someone’s way to class can be frustrating.
The construction by the Women’s Quadrangle has slowly progressed throughout the semester, and students now notice we can’t walk down Greene Street in front of the quad anymore. The “pedestrian pathway” USC had there for several months disappeared this week as construction expanded. Now, everyone must follow the fence walkway into the grass and walk around where we’re used to walking.
Not only is this change going to kill the grass along the new path, but it adds a small amount of time getting from one place to another past this area.
The newest construction site on campus that’s greatly affected people traveling around campus is the closing of the Coliseum parking lot. Although the university has offered additional parking options, the sidewalks surrounding the lot have been blocked off by fencing. Wednesday, in my media law class in the Coliseum, my classmates and professor began discussing the frustration of the closed lot and sidewalks.
“I understand they had to begin construction, but they have blocked every sidewalk, and now I’m seeing students walk in the street alongside traffic to get around campus,” my professor said during the conversation.
The University of South Carolina is making drastic changes to campus to ensure housing and safety for current and future students. The only question many students and faculty may ask is why the construction can’t work a little more in our favor.
There are a few short weeks until the semester is over, and it seems USC’s construction couldn’t hold off until summer vacation.
Students and faculty should be cautious and safe as they take the new ways to class into account, because they will most likely affect everyone at some point in time.