EAST LANSING, Mich. -- The intersection at Farm Lane and Auditorium Road, one of the busiest on campus, will soon get a facelift that will make it both safer and easier to navigate. Construction will begin in July and is expected to last for five weeks.
Beginning July 6, Farm Lane will be closed from East Circle Drive to the south side of Farm Lane Bridge (north of Erickson Hall). Detours bypassing the area on the north and south will be clearly marked with signs.
The redesign of the intersection will include traffic signals controlled by camera sensors that will regulate the flow of cars according to the volume of vehicles traveling in each direction. Nearly 50 parking spaces on the north side of Bessey Hall and the north side of the Auditorium will be removed to accommodate new left and right turn lanes, which will be added on each street. Audible crossing signals for the visually impaired will be installed. In the first phase of a campus-wide project to improve safety for bicyclists, four-foot wide bike lanes will extend the length of Farm Lane to the bridge.
East Circle Drive between North Kedzie Hall and Agriculture Hall will eventually close to traffic and become a green space, with traffic routed toward the redesigned intersection. Until the project is completed, this stretch of East Circle Drive will remain open. Parking Lot 79 (behind Bessey Hall) and Ramp #2 (Computer Center) will also remain open during the construction period.
All work is expected to be complete by August 15.
"We'll be using state-of-the-art technology to transform the current intersection into one that greatly improves the safety of both drivers and pedestrians," said Jeffrey Kacos, director of Campus Park and Planning. "It will have the added benefit of improving traffic flow and making it easier to move across campus."
The university is consulting with FTCH, Inc., of Lansing, on the project, which will cost $726,000.