Purple shading and text boxes summarize the Morrill Road-Union Drive road reconstruction that will begin July 8. Map courtesy of facilities planning and management.
To reconstruct a section of crumbling road, the Morrill Road-Union Drive intersection will close Monday, July 8, and remain closed through mid-August. The intersection is northwest of the Memorial Union, and the closure includes the sidewalk between the MU and Music Hall corners. Sidewalks connecting the MU to central campus, on either side of the north lawn, will remain open. Pedestrians should heed signage about detours.
More info
Morrill Road will close to through traffic, impacting reserved parking along the road and rerouting several CyRide routes.
"We recognize road closures are an inconvenience to our campus community,” said Angie Solberg, who's managing the project for facilities planning and management. "This intersection gets a lot of vehicle use, and for driver safety and for our busing system, it's important to make these repairs before the school year begins."
She noted patchwork paving done this spring in that area was a temporary solution until road reconstruction could begin after new student orientation wraps up next week.
Morrill Road was the lone north-south vehicle route through central campus this summer, with Bissell Road and Union Drive (near Friley Hall) on the west side and Wallace Road on the east side closed for road and building construction, respectively. Morrill, Union and Bissell will reopen before fall semester begins, while the Wallace closing will continue until November 2020 for the Gerdin building addition project.
Morrill Road users
Solberg said emergency vehicles and campus garbage, mail and dining trucks providing service to the Hub and Morrill, Beardshear and Carver halls will be allowed to travel in both directions on Morrill Road during the closure.
Parking director Mark Miller said Morrill Road parking permit holders will be temporarily relocated to stalls on Osborn Drive. Reserved permit holders who park on Union Drive along Lake LaVerne will have access to those stalls on most days of the construction period but will need to U-turn and exit west -- the same way they came in.
The road construction zone will extend north on Morrill to the Carver Hall/lot 19 driveway and west on Union Drive toward the lake, beyond where Morrill Road jogs south adjacent to the MU.
