The Exponent


11/27/01	5 day quick link 11/26 \| 11/20 \| 11/19 \| 11/16 \| 11/15

West Lafayette should revise use of streets

Stadium Avenue between Northwestern Avenue and North Intramural Drive will have a traffic jam today. Anyone who has tried driving to Purdue during a major sporting event or when class gets out probably knows that. This stretch of road needs a major overhaul because it is becoming a safety hazard. These sidewalks are not properly maintained, and are not wide enough, not to mention being about one false step from a close encounter with a CityBus. Those things can be fatal at 25 mph. The road should be widened to five lanes across, and have better drainage to reduce potholes, and safer sidewalks installed. The middle lane could be a bi-directional lane like the ones around the Indianapolis State Fairgrounds. This lane would be especially helpful during large events, where three lanes could all be going one way into the event, and three lanes could be going the opposite way when the event was over. The part of that road in the right lane going east in front of Creative Arts should be used as a test bed for pothole research. Perhaps the civil engineers could test better ways to monitor and correct traffic flow, installing sensors and cameras. Let’s all pull together and encourage those who can fix this problem to turn it into a positive situation. I urge everyone to visit http://www.city.west-lafayette.in.us/. Let the government, civil engineering, Jischke and anyone else who can make a difference know how to fix this problem. We need a better way to get from northwestern to the intramural fields. Tell them that the extra 15 feet needed could come from land in front of Lambert, Cary and Owen. I would rather see the land taken from the private residences already built too close to the south side of the Stadium Avenue.

Paul Ulrich

Senior, Schools of Engineering

Related Coverage