By Kristin Zagurski
Many students will arrive at school this fall expecting improvements in UNO’s traffic problem.
At the April 6 Board of Regents meeting, a resolution was approved to make way for traffic improvements in Elmwood Park.
The resolution, which was sponsored by UNO’s Vice Chancellor for Business and Finance Garry Carrico, called for the construction of a roundabout in Elmwood Park.
This purposed roundabout, according to a Board of Regents addendum, would “improve the traffic flow to and from UNO during peak periods.”
The resolution called for the installation of a roundabout, a project estimated to cost the NU system $275,000, to be completed by the start of the fall semester.
However, upon discussion at the Board of Regents meeting in April, it was decided that traffic solutions other than a roundabout should be considered.
The Board of Regents decided that “a roundabout or alternative improvement in Elmwood Park” would be made, and set aside the funds needed for such improvements, said Paul Kosel, assistant manager of traffic and campus security at UNO.
Kosel said other possible solutions include turn signals or turn lanes.
In order to decide which improvement would be the most appropriate, Campus Security, along with HDR Engineering, Inc., will conduct a series of traffic studies during the fall semester.
“There will be a lot of activity the first three weeks of school,” Kosel said.
He said tubes will be in place to count cars and personnel will also stand alongside the road to observe traffic patterns.
He said people will be sitting out two to three days a week for the first part of the semester to try and find traffic patterns, such as in the ways people turn.
The surveyors will take a break after three weeks and then return mid-semester to observe the traffic patters during a non-peak period.
After the data has been collected, Campus Security and HDR will make a recommendation to the Board of Regents as to which improvements should be made.
