Last updated on February 21, 2018
By Presley Green
Volunteer State Community College will be repairing parking lots and adding sidewalks on the Gallatin campus in 2018.
The Parking, Road and Site Upgrade Project is to repair and resurface older parking lots. Also, sidewalks will be added to end the issues students face while walking to the further parking lots across Loop Road, the road the that wraps around campus connecting the entrances.
This project is still in the design phase, but construction is already being scheduled.
“The goal of the Parking, Road and Site Upgrade Project is to repair aging parking lots and increase pedestrian safety through the construction of sidewalks on campus,” according to Will Newman, senior director of plant operations.
This upgrade project includes resurfacing Parking Lots A and B, located outside Ramer Administration Building and Caudill Hall, and repairing Lot E, by the tennis courts, and Lot Y, on the east side of campus. The project is not adding additional parking but just repairing and resurfacing current lots that are damaged or old.
A five-foot-wide sidewalk will be constructed around the southwest side of Loop Road, and another sidewalk will connect Loop Road to the center of the campus.
“This project is funded by annual capital maintenance appropriations which are provided by the state. For fiscal year 2016-2017, the state awarded VSCC nearly $1.6 million for site repairs and upgrades. The Parking, Road, and Site Upgrade is estimated to cost $644,000,” according to Newman in an email.
Even though the project is still in the design phase, the construction is estimated to start in the middle of May and is projected to last until the middle of September. The construction is scheduled to take place during the summer months to avoid disturbing students, faculty, and traffic.
Fatima Carreno, sophomore at Vol State who parks in Lot E four days a week said, “I think this upgrade project is great. I rarely walk along Loop Road, but I’m sure many students do and will appreciate the safety of a sidewalk.”
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