8/20/2001
EAST LANSING, Mich. - A new primary entrance to the Michigan State University campus that has been more than a decade in the making will become a reality this week when the opening of the Trowbridge Road extension is celebrated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
The ceremony will take place on Tuesday, Aug. 21, at 10 a.m. at the intersection of Harrison and Trowbridge roads. The first vehicle to use the road following the ceremony will be the Spartan Chariot, pulled by a pair of Andalusian horses driven by Brian Nielsen, faculty member in the Department of Animal Science.
The extension connects Harrison Road on the west edge of campus with Red Cedar Road and Farm Lane in the center of campus. About 15,000 motorists are expected to use the new road each day. Construction took nearly a year and cost almost $4 million.
The concept for a new boulevard entrance to the campus was first put forward in a 1989 parking and transportation study prepared by Campus Park and Planning. The MSU Board of Trustees approved the project in June 2000.
"The new entrance will serve as a beautiful and functional 'front door' for vehicles approaching campus from the south and west," said Jeff Kacos, director of Campus Park and Planning.
Regular and event traffic circulation will be greatly improved, with easier connections to US-127 and I-496.
"This project is the latest effort to make the campus safe, user-friendly, pleasant and efficient," Kacos said. "It is an important component of the 2020 Vision initiative, which seeks to accommodate the university's growth in an environmentally friendly way that preserves our tradition of green spaces."
The four-lane boulevard - two east-bound lanes and two west-bound lanes - is enhanced by sweeping lawn areas and new plantings of trees and flowers. Visitors will have access to a staffed information center stocked with brochures about campus sites and activities.
The entire project has been designed with an emphasis on vehicle and pedestrian safety.
"By reducing traffic volumes on West Shaw Lane and Wilson Road, the Trowbridge Road extension will help reduce the chance of accidents involving pedestrians, bikes and cars," Kacos said.
Other recent efforts to improve vehicle-pedestrian safety on campus include redesigned intersections at Farm Lane and Wilson Road and at Farm Lane and Auditorium Road.
This week's ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrates the culmination of a successful partnership involving MSU, the Michigan congressional delegation, the Federal Highway Administration, the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT), the city of East Lansing, the Ingham County Road Commission and the Tri-County Regional Planning Commission.
More than half of the funding for the project was provided by a Federal Highway Administration grant administered by the Michigan Department of Transportation. In addition to supporting the project during the federal funding process, MDOT administered the construction contract for the new road.