The orange barrels University of Wisconsin students see every day while walking to class and the increased commute times impacting faculty have left the entire UW campus wondering when, if ever, construction will be finished.
“Park Street will be open later this week and there are sections open right now,” said Gary Brown, director of campus planning and landscape architecture.
Workers are replacing steam and chilled water lines, which are buried pipes that provide heating and cooling to a significant amount of buildings in the area. Initially, construction was supposed to be completed within a few weeks of classes starting, but has now dragged on for almost two months.
Brown said extra utility pipes not in the plans delayed construction on Park Street because workers had to figure out what each pipe was and how it was being used. Brown cited the pipes of unknown origin as the cause for delay earlier in the semester and said crews are still having problems with piping.
Although he is not completely certain, Brown said he believes the pipes are related to old heating plants that used to surround UW.
“This area is one of the older parts of campus and there used to be a heating plant where Helen C. White is now, as well as one next to Radio Hall,” Brown said.
UW freshman Naomi Turner said while construction does not directly affect her, it does bother her that it is taking so long to complete. Turner said with all the equipment left lying around it does not look like much progress has been made, even though she thought it would have been done a few weeks after she got to campus.
However, construction does impact the daily lives of other students. UW sophomore Kyle Kent said the traffic backups and detoured bus routes make it hard to get to classes beyond walking distance.
“One thing I’ve learned up here is that construction is never done when it’s supposed to be,” Kent said.
Library Mall and Union South are both on schedule, according to Brown. At Union South, they are at the point of enclosing the building and will continue to work on the interior throughout the winter.
