Construction on Union Drive and Welch Road is set to take place in a little over a year in order to improve road conditions and pedestrian safety.

The plans for the reconstruction were presented Wednesday at the Union Drive Community Center. Students, faculty and staff who frequent the area could learn in advance about any inconveniences and benefits of the project.

Angela Solberg, landscape architect and project manager, said reconstruction will begin in the summer of 2018, however, a more specific time has not yet been determined.

“Until we know the entire scope and we determine the phasing plans, we won’t have specific start and stop dates, but 2018 is our planned construction year,” Solberg said.

Solberg explained that they have a management plan where they maintain a pavement condition index of all of the streets on campus. They deemed the condition of these streets in specific as low.

She also discussed the amount of bus and pedestrian traffic the area faces on a regular basis. 

“We are trying to make it a more pedestrian-friendly corridor, and with the timing of the Student Innovation Center, the Bissell Road work and this, I think it will be a great improvement to the west side of campus with all of those things coming together in the next few years,” Solberg said.

The safety of those walking through the area was a main contributor to why the construction is important, Solberg said. 

The team working on the project is looking at ways to reduce potential pedestrian-vehicular conflict. This involves reducing the amount of cars in the area and narrowing the road.

Solberg explained that the goal is to make the area a space for pedestrians rather than a busy road that gives cars the right of way.  

“We’re trying to make it more pedestrian-friendly in that way,” Solberg said.

The reconstruction likely will affect how students travel through the area.

Michael Leedy, senior in mechanical engineering, raised concerns over the amount of time the project will take and how much it will cost, saying that he wants to determine “whether or not this will be a worthwhile investment.”

Tracy Warner, municipal engineer, said reconstruction on Union Drive and Welch Road will be in cooperation with similar work to be done by the city of Ames.