If you’ve visited University of Lynchburg in the past several months, especially if you entered via the main gate on Lakeside Drive, you might have found things, well, a bit chaotic.
But the opening of the Loop Road, as it’s being called, should help. It is part of the Student Center renovation and expansion project. The 480-foot-long road begins where the guard shack formerly stood on Hopwood Drive, loops around Alumni House, and ends across from the current student center loading dock.
Construction was delayed because of of rain, but the road opened Aug. 5. The road to Hopwood Hall is currently closed but should be reopened by mid-August.
Robert Smith, director of LC’s physical plant, said the old road between the Alumni House and existing Student Center could have been reworked, but it would have created problems.
“There would be about a twenty-foot clearance between the new addition and the Alumni House if we relocated the existing road, which we feel would make for an unattractive setting and create a vibration issue in both buildings, as the tractor trailers that supply Burton for food service pass by,” Smith said.
“With the Student Center expansion, the existing access would need to shift toward the Alumni House and thus make a much steeper access road; there simply was no other option to get tractor trailers to Burton for supplying the food products for the dining commons.”
Traffic patterns, pedestrian wayfaring down to Alumni, and parking availability have all been impacted by the construction. The campus map page shows alternate directions around the chaos.
