College Avenue closed for reconstruction until August

by Joe King

Work to rebuild College Avenue will require motorists who enter campus from the east to alter their route for the next few months.

College Avenue is closed from the driveway of Kishwaukee Hall (just west of where it intersects with Woodley Road) to Castle Drive. The work, which includes resurfacing and remodeling the bridge over the Kishwaukee River, is to be completed before students return in August.

Despite soil borings, contractors are not entirely sure what awaits them when they begin digging. No records are on file from the last time the road was rebuilt, which campus engineers estimate was about 40 years ago.

The road has been resurfaced and repaired many times since then, but the constant pounding of cars, trucks and particularly buses finally necessitated a complete rebuild, said Tom Wroblewski of NIU Architectural and Engineering Services.

“We will be rebuilding from the base up: new base, new surface, new curbs, new sidewalks and new lighting,” Wroblewski said, adding that the new road will be built to withstand the heavy traffic common to the area now.

While the bridge (which also dates to the 1960s) creates its own set of challenges, the good news is that the footings and supports for that structure remain in good shape.

It means the project will require only a new roadbed and some remodeling to make it similar in appearance to other, newer bridges on campus, such as the footbridges over Watson Creek near Cole Hall.

Later in the summer (no date has been set) Castle Road from Route 38 to College Avenue also will be resurfaced. That project will require closing of that road for a few days, Wroblewski said.

The parking lot at the north end of the lagoon will be closed during the construction and will be resurfaced. Also, because the College Avenue entrance to the Art Building parking lot will be blocked, a temporary entrance to the lot will be created on Gilbert Drive.

5-14-07