BLACKSBURG, Va., May 2, 2005 – As the spring semester comes to a close and students prepare for commencement or a summer at home, Virginia Tech will undertake several campus improvement projects to further improve campus facilities, utilities and infrastructure. Even though some projects may cause minor inconveniences to students, faculty, staff and campus visitors this summer, benefits will be gained for years to come.
The projects scheduled for this summer are part of Virginia Tech’s long range campus master plan. The plan guides campus development in concert with the university's mission and current or future academic and student life programming and identifies future development sites, guidelines for building design, assesses campus utilities, and integrates transportation and parking strategies.
Among the more visible summer projects will be the installation of two sanitary sewer lines on campus. The Blacksburg-VPI Sanitation Authority will upgrade and reroute the existing sewer line on the eastern side of campus, stretching from the Donaldson Brown Hotel and Conference Center, along Kent Street and Drillfield Drive between the University Bookstore and Eggleston Hall, to the Drillfield. Equipment and material for this project will be delivered the first week of May and the project is expected to be completed in October.
A new sanitary sewer line will be installed in an abandoned portion of the Virginia Tech Golf Course between Prices Fork Road and Duck Pond Drive. This project has begun and is expected to be completed in October.
To improve pedestrian safety and provide better traffic control during peak travel hours and sporting events, a traffic roundabout will be constructed at the intersection of West Campus Drive and Washington Street. This project will begin in early May and is scheduled to be completed before classes resume this fall.
Virginia Tech and the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) will install a new traffic signal (which will include pedestrian lights) at the intersection of Southgate Drive and Spring Road/Tech Center Drive. This project will begin after Commencement and is scheduled to be completed in August.
Also after Commencement, several roads and parking lots will be repaved on the Blacksburg campus. VDOT will pave West Campus Drive between the intersection of Washington Street and Grove Lane; North Drill Field Drive between the intersection of Kent Street and Stanger to West Campus Drive; and Dairy Science Drive beginning at the intersection of Southgate Drive for approximately one-quarter of a mile. All paving and sealing is scheduled to be completed before classes resume this fall.
Ground breaking will take place this summer for Phase II of Virginia Tech’s Hokie Bikeways project. The Cranwell Connection will be a 10-foot-wide asphalt trail linking the Shared Pathway on Washington Street, to the Southgate Drive Huckleberry Trail Spur.
Construction on the $43 million Inn at Virginia Tech and Skelton Conference Center will be completed this summer, and guests will begin to arrive on campus in July. Work on the $54 million Lane Stadium expansion project will continue over the summer and is scheduled to be completed in time for the first home football game Sept. 17. Work continues on the $26 million Agriculture and Natural Resources building which is scheduled to be completed by early 2006.
With the opening of the Inn at Virginia Tech, Donaldson Brown Hotel and Conference Center will close June 30. The building will undergo an initial phase of renovations during July and August and will reopen as a graduate student center and residence hall at the start of the fall semester.
Expansion of Virginia Tech’s horticulture garden, located on Washington Street next to McComas Hall, will begin this summer. The garden, recently renamed the Peggy Lee Hahn Horticulture Garden, will include a multi-purpose special events and education center and the garden will be expanded from its current 2.5 acres to include 4.4 additional acres of open land adjacent to the existing garden.