Students driving down Wallace Road may notice there have been some changes since last spring.

Then again, they might not notice until it’s too late, and this is what concerns some members of the Inter-Residence Hall Association.

“I’ve heard that some students are concerned about driving on the road at night,” said Keith Twombley, president of IRHA.

“The new curbs and lanes are unexpected.”

According to Doug Houghton, program manager for the parking division of the Department of Public Safety, the primary change on Wallace Road has been its conversion from a four to a two-lane road. The inside lanes have been made into turning lanes.

Houghton said the changes were based on students expressing concerns over the safety of pedestrian crossing over Wallace Road.

“The potential for somebody getting hurt was there,” he said.

Pedestrians now have fewer automobile-traveled lanes to cross.

Houghton was part of the committee that, with recommendations from IRHA and the Government of the Student Body, made the decision regarding the changes on Wallace Road.

According to Houghton, other options, including an overpass and stop signs, were considered but deemed too expensive or ineffective.

“A traffic engineer evaluated the options for Wallace Road and made the recommendation,” Houghton said.

Twombley said the students involved did not expect this kind of a change.

“As far as I know, the people involved expected some other kind of traffic control,” he said. “A stop sign, or a speed limit – this was pretty unexpected.”

Houghton said there are plans to address some of the students’ concerns.

“There are plans to move curbs,” Houghton said.

“There are plans to take where the yellow lines are and build the curb out to those lines.”

Tyler Lindquist, sophomore in horticulture and Larch Hall resident, said he didn’t feel any safer crossing Wallace.

“It slows traffic way down,” Lindquist said of the changes, “but it makes it more dangerous to cross – cars are weaving in and out trying to avoid the curbs.”

Houghton said he is aware of one fender bender involving two vehicles that occurred on Wallace after the changes were made.

Justin Rasmussen, Richardson Court Association president, said he will take a wait-and-see approach with the changes.

“If I start hearing complaints and see no real reduction in traffic as a result of the changes, absolutely I will start something rolling in IRHA,” he said.

Houghton believes once students get used to the change, the two-lane road will not be a problem.

“The biggest difficulty is not so much what’s there,” Houghton said, “but that what’s there is different – in a few months, it won’t be a problem.”