Ball State's roads will receive an early Christmas present -- a federal grant designed to improve the campus streets.
The new grant, worth $1.24 million, will be combined with an existing grant of $8.3 million to repave streets and add medians.
"We will use it all for the additional work, and when it stops, the project stops," said Jim Lowe, the director of engineering and facilities assessment.
Plans were already underway to improve the streets before Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) acquired the latest grant. Construction for the initial plans will begin in late 2003, Lowe said. All of McKinley Avenue between Bethel and University avenues and Riverside Avenue between Meadow Lane and Dicks Street will be repaved, and a lane on the west end of Shafer Tower will be built using grant money. Medians will also be built on McKinley Avenue for students to stand during traffic.
"The median serves two functions," Lowe said. "That is a safety feature, but it looks better having an island in the middle of the dividing traffic.
"Certainly the median design will add a different look to the streetscape."
With the new money, Neely and New York avenues and additional stretches of Riverside Avenue could be repaved. Ball State is also considering installing programmable traffic lights, thus coordinating the lights at different intersections.
The Scramble Light could also see some major renovations because of the new grant. Lowe said he has considered installing a left-turn signal, an amenity which many Ball State students have expressed interest. With the grant, a right turn lane could also be added at the intersection.
Nothing definitive has been scheduled, but Lowe said Ball State and the city will hammer out the details while the $8.3 million project is being completed.
While they are working out the details, Lowe said, the public will be allowed to voice their opinions, and once construction begins, Ball State will maintain some sort of traffic and pedestrian flow.
"Our first priority is to ensure pedestrian traffic is safe and sound and continuous," Lowe said. "In the construction process, we'll have to accommodate that flow."
The $8.3 million funded project should be complete in about two years, and Lowe said he hopes to start the next project soon afterwards. However, in five years, another federal bill will circulate through Congress, bringing with it another grant opportunity.
"Five years from now, if there is an opportunity, we'll certainly review and submit," Lowe said. "There's always opportunity."
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