Issue date: 2/1/07 Section: News

Chris Griffin - THE BATTALION The University plans to build underpasses with car and pedestrian traffic that will stretch from Albritton Tower to West Campus.

Given the continued westward growth of the Texas A&M campus and the immense amount of traffic flow that exists, the University is considering building two additional railway grade separations or underpasses beneath the railroad tracks, said Charles Sippial, vice president for Facilities at A&M.

"Everyday, 20 to 30 trains, 60 to 70 busses, and thousands of bikes and pedestrians cross over the railroad tracks on Wellborn Road," Sippial said.

The two underpasses would run parallel to each other on opposite sides of Albritton Tower. One would run at Lamar Street next to Simpson Dill Field, and the other would run at Jones Street next to Clements Residence Hall.

These underpasses would be similar to the existing one near the Rec Center, but would also have a lower level for buses and cars to travel on, which would greatly decrease the amount of traffic by separating University traffic from the rest of College Station traffic on Wellborn Road, Sippial said.

"(The University is) looking at building a safer route for access between main campus and west campus," Sippial said.

The goal of this project is to make the campus seamless and integrate main and west campus together so that A&M is not considered as having two separate campuses, said Dick Williams, assistant vice president for the Physical Plant.

Senior finance major Daniel Fuentes has only 20 minutes to commute to a class from the Wehner Building on west campus to the Halbouty Fuentes said. "There's no way I could make it to class on time."

Fuentes said he prefers to ride the bus to reach his class on time since walking is not an option, but that busses are unpredictable because of the unscheduled trains that constantly pass through town.

"Three out of five times I've ridden the bus there has been a train that made me late," Fuentes said.

The suggestion for relocating the railroad tracks away from campus has been brought up several times in the past 20 years, but the proposal never succeeded.

Sippial said he has been working on the underpass project plan for two years, and it has been integrated into the Campus Master Plan, a compilation of proposed construction projects for the next 50 years.

Now, officials from the facilities department and Physical Plant are focusing on locating sufficient funds before this project can be enacted.

There is currently $30 million of funding available for this project, but an additional $5 million is needed for relocating the underground utilities, Sippial said.

Sippial said he is planning on working together with Union Pacific to support the additional funding. Sippial will be traveling to Omaha, Nebraska to talk with the CEO and CFO of Union Pacific regarding this matter.

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