Comments on: Universities miss the train when it comes to transit http://rethinkcollegepark.net/blog/2008/637/ Helping imagine a great college town for a great university Sat, 31 Jul 2010 05:10:05 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: JLM http://rethinkcollegepark.net/blog/2008/637/comment-page-1/#comment-11544 JLM Fri, 17 Oct 2008 20:25:03 +0000 http://rethinkcollegepark.net/blog/?p=637#comment-11544 I don't think that having a station on (or near) campus is a significant safety concern. It's too bad the university opposed placing the green line stop in downtown CP. That would've been much more convenient. What worries me about running a light rail through campus is the destruction of the aesthetic of Campus Dr. Tearing up the M traffic circle and having obtrusive wires hanging overhead (like the ones pictured above in Baltimore) would make the center of campus significantly uglier. Campus Drive already is not the most picturesque part of the university, with its clogging traffic. I think it would be a mistake to make it even more unattractive. The M circle is a pretty iconic piece of the university. Maybe if the light rail were routed off the left, through the engineering fields, the circle could be saved. I'm still not sold on those wires, though. I agree that the purple line is a necessary piece of regional development and realize that my argument is a case of NIMBY, projected onto the university. I just wish that there were a good way to do this without ruining the intangible college-y aesthetic that I enjoyed as a student and treasure as an alum. I don’t think that having a station on (or near) campus is a significant safety concern. It’s too bad the university opposed placing the green line stop in downtown CP. That would’ve been much more convenient.

What worries me about running a light rail through campus is the destruction of the aesthetic of Campus Dr. Tearing up the M traffic circle and having obtrusive wires hanging overhead (like the ones pictured above in Baltimore) would make the center of campus significantly uglier. Campus Drive already is not the most picturesque part of the university, with its clogging traffic. I think it would be a mistake to make it even more unattractive.

The M circle is a pretty iconic piece of the university. Maybe if the light rail were routed off the left, through the engineering fields, the circle could be saved. I’m still not sold on those wires, though.

I agree that the purple line is a necessary piece of regional development and realize that my argument is a case of NIMBY, projected onto the university. I just wish that there were a good way to do this without ruining the intangible college-y aesthetic that I enjoyed as a student and treasure as an alum.

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]]> By: sean roberts http://rethinkcollegepark.net/blog/2008/637/comment-page-1/#comment-5275 sean roberts Wed, 01 Oct 2008 13:58:21 +0000 http://rethinkcollegepark.net/blog/?p=637#comment-5275 I remember a few years back I visited Old Dominion University in Virginia where they had a similar issue regarding a monorail that stretched less than a mile across there relatively small campus. The University spent around $14 million with american maglev tech. to build it and now it sits covered up and not in use. I remember the joke at the time was that they forgot to build brakes (pretty sure thats not true). The point is that this type of transportation is perfect for universities, especially where parking and traffic is an issue. The U of Maryland should be thankful that they have an oppurtunity to use the metro like Howard, American U, Catholic, etc. despite the fact that College Park is not in DC. Using metro may be costly but in the long run I think its a great idea because its part of a larger system so MD wouldnt be solely responsible for it, WMATA i assume would share some of the expense. As far as the universities safety concerns, Metro does have its own police, and the new station would most likely be well lit and have several cameras which would help combat this I remember a few years back I visited Old Dominion University in Virginia where they had a similar issue regarding a monorail that stretched less than a mile across there relatively small campus. The University spent around $14 million with american maglev tech. to build it and now it sits covered up and not in use. I remember the joke at the time was that they forgot to build brakes (pretty sure thats not true).

The point is that this type of transportation is perfect for universities, especially where parking and traffic is an issue. The U of Maryland should be thankful that they have an oppurtunity to use the metro like Howard, American U, Catholic, etc. despite the fact that College Park is not in DC. Using metro may be costly but in the long run I think its a great idea because its part of a larger system so MD wouldnt be solely responsible for it, WMATA i assume would share some of the expense. As far as the universities safety concerns, Metro does have its own police, and the new station would most likely be well lit and have several cameras which would help combat this

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