The north lane on College Avenue was shut down temporarily from Sept. 26-30. The lane was closed to install debris safety netting for the construction of the new escarpment trail, but in the wake of criticism from students and faculty over multiple power outages in the past month, the college also took the opportunity to prune and remove several dangerous tree limbs that risk causing another power interruption.
“To safely remove these trees requires the use of a crane and the only place to station a crane is on College Avenue itself,” Associate Vice President for Finance & Business Craig Becker said. “The footprint of the crane is approximately 25 feet which includes the outrigging stabilizers. Primarily, it is the footprint of the crane that requires the closure of one lane of traffic.”
The closure of the lane also aimed to prevent any accidents or safety concerns that would arise from the construction and trimming of trees.
“Closing one lane of traffic also ensures that, should any debris fall down the slope, it can be stopped in our closure area and not impact any traffic. The college directed the contractor to provide flagmen to smoothly direct traffic in both directions as appropriate,” Becker added.
To ensure 0perations ran smoothly, the college reached out to all students whose cars were assigned to the affected spaces in advance of the lane closures and relocated them to the Leopard Deck.
Despite the closure having significantly impacted traffic flow, Easton Public Safety worked with Facilities Operations to ensure that the LCAT shuttles on campus arrived at their designated destinations on time.
“We were concerned about the shuttle schedule on campus, we tried to keep that schedule as on time as possible,” Director of Public Safety Jeff Troxell said. “We worked with the flaggers so that when they see the shuttle, they will try to keep the flow going.”
A Lafayette Today article was released last week that asked students, faculty and staff to be “understanding of any delays” the closure may have caused.
The administration hopes that the closure, though disruptive, will aid in the overall safety and security of the campus.
