Northgate to become pedestrian friendly
By: Joaquin Villegas
Issue date: 11/19/09 Section: News
The Texas Department of Transportation presented the proposed designs of a $2 million redesign of the Northgate area to improve pedestrian safety Wednesday in a meeting open to the public.
Proposed changes to the Northgate area include creating a pedestrian mall at College Main and Houston Street.
The main purpose behind redesigning the Northgate pedestrian walkways is to make the crossing into Northgate safer for pedestrians and people riding bicycles, said Texas Department of Transportation architect Maurice Jacob.
"Currently, a pedestrian mall is established only on Patricia Street three times a week at night," Jacob said, "and we would make it a permanent pedestrian mall."
The pedestrian mall would consist of continuous lanes and expanded sidewalks that would connect all the way to the Sbisa Dining Hall and the renovated Military Walk.
"The whole point is to make pedestrians linkages that are easy to follow and minimize the risks for pedestrians," Jacob said.
The proposed pedestrian mall would widen the sidewalks along University Drive, removing the short-term parking located between College Main and Wellborn Road.
Some businesses in the Northgate area have expressed concerns over this proposal because they would lose both that parking space and current large truck delivery options.
"We need the public to have an input in this proposal so that we can determine how functional that option would be," Jacob said. "Our main concern is the safety of pedestrians and to provide much safer ways to crossing the streets instead of just enforcing against jaywalkers."
The redesign would also create a four-way signaled intersection at University Drive and Boyett Street.
The public stakeholder meeting was presented in the Langford Architecture Center by the student chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects.
"The Texas Department of Transportation communicated with our adviser," said Tyson Gaspard, senior landscape architecture major and president of the society. "They worked it out so that the forum could be hosted by students and bring more people out to the meeting."
The meeting consisted of a presentation that included photographs and animations of what the final design would look like and how the redesigning would be functional.
"It is very important that students understand the changes that are going to occur," Gaspard said. "They need to raise their voice and voice their concern, if any, because the changes are going to not only affect students, but drivers as well."
The meeting was the last of three stakeholder meetings the department has had. The design will be presented to the city council next week. If students could not attend to the meeting but would like to offer opinions, they can e-mail to bapplet@dot.state.tx.us.
Proposed changes to the Northgate area include creating a pedestrian mall at College Main and Houston Street.
The main purpose behind redesigning the Northgate pedestrian walkways is to make the crossing into Northgate safer for pedestrians and people riding bicycles, said Texas Department of Transportation architect Maurice Jacob.
"Currently, a pedestrian mall is established only on Patricia Street three times a week at night," Jacob said, "and we would make it a permanent pedestrian mall."
The pedestrian mall would consist of continuous lanes and expanded sidewalks that would connect all the way to the Sbisa Dining Hall and the renovated Military Walk.
"The whole point is to make pedestrians linkages that are easy to follow and minimize the risks for pedestrians," Jacob said.
The proposed pedestrian mall would widen the sidewalks along University Drive, removing the short-term parking located between College Main and Wellborn Road.
Some businesses in the Northgate area have expressed concerns over this proposal because they would lose both that parking space and current large truck delivery options.
"We need the public to have an input in this proposal so that we can determine how functional that option would be," Jacob said. "Our main concern is the safety of pedestrians and to provide much safer ways to crossing the streets instead of just enforcing against jaywalkers."
The redesign would also create a four-way signaled intersection at University Drive and Boyett Street.
The public stakeholder meeting was presented in the Langford Architecture Center by the student chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects.
"The Texas Department of Transportation communicated with our adviser," said Tyson Gaspard, senior landscape architecture major and president of the society. "They worked it out so that the forum could be hosted by students and bring more people out to the meeting."
The meeting consisted of a presentation that included photographs and animations of what the final design would look like and how the redesigning would be functional.
"It is very important that students understand the changes that are going to occur," Gaspard said. "They need to raise their voice and voice their concern, if any, because the changes are going to not only affect students, but drivers as well."
The meeting was the last of three stakeholder meetings the department has had. The design will be presented to the city council next week. If students could not attend to the meeting but would like to offer opinions, they can e-mail to bapplet@dot.state.tx.us.
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