Construction blueprints to better highway campus Train delays may be derailed with plans for overpass By Brian Carlson Staff Reporter On a frigid Tuesday morning, Ryan Drapal sat on a shuttle bus waiting to ride to a class on the other side of City Campus. Two coal trains had just come screaming past the parking lot where he waited across from the Bob Devaney Sports Center. For Drapal, a freshman English major, the trains that pass north of the 17th and Holdrege streets intersection often delay his shuttle rides. “Sometimes it makes you late. Sometimes you’re there extra early,” Drapal said. “Ybu can’t time out when you need to be there.” Jim Akin,-shuttle bus driver, agreed. “It’s annoying,” he said. “For a university of this size to be held back by a railroad is kind of hard to explain. But you get used to it.” If motorists and pedestrians wait a few more years, they might not have to wait behind lights and crossbucks any longer. A proposed overpass would run traffic over the tracks and get more students to class on time. In response to concerns for trans portation safety and convenience in a large section of Lincoln surrounding the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Rail road, a group of local organizations plan to improve the area’s infrastruc ture over the next six years. The City of Lincoln, the Univer sity of Nebraska-Lincoln and the Lower Platte South Natural Resources District have begun work on a program known as the Antelope Valley Major Investment Study. At the center of the area being stud ied is the intersection at 17th and [■ Aaron Steckelberg/DN Holdrege streets, which borders two City Campus perimeter parking lots and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad. One proposal is the construc tion of a vehicle overpass in the area. An average of 50 trains per day use the tracks, resulting in frequent delays for motorists and pedestrians. Study participants say the proposed overpass, which would be between 14th and 17th streets, would even traf fic flow and prevent dangerous behav ior by delayed travelers. In recent years, UNL and Burlington officials have received re ports of students Climbing on or through rail cars while a train was at rest and blocking ttaffic. Kim Todd, campus planner, said, “While the time delays are an incon venience, the real concern is that when people are in a hurry, they do things that are not in their best interests.” Rick Haden, city operations man ager, said if the project succeeds in separating railway and street routes, it would alleviate some transportation andjurfety problems. ^ pedestrian routes on a different level than thb trash tracks. Haden emphasized that the Ante lope study is a long-term program and constructionjhightnot start until 1999. Mike, Martin, a Burlington Rail road spokesman, said the company woukl participate in the study. “We know there are a lot of activi ties going on around the university, and we’re doing everything we can to keep the trains flowing in and out of town,” he said. “So we’re supportive of any efforts to build grade separation.” Plans for construction are still sketchy, and it is unclear what effect the building of an overpass would have on UNL parking lots and buildings. Tad McDowell, parking services manager, said his department is pre paring for construction. When it re cently paved a parking lot near the Devaney Center, only a thin layer of asphalt was used in case construction requires changes. The gravel lot along 17th Street alsoHvas left unpaved. The lots are also along the shuttle bus routes, and the trains can make a 20-minute wait turn into 45 minutes. “It would be nice to have some re lief from die trains,” McDowell said. “It prevents us from developing some kind of regular schedule.” v .. ■ Complete multimedia computer customized for students ■ Campus Z-Station* features: • Powerful Intel* Pentium* processor • Large capacity hard drive • Plenty of memory to run today's hottest applications • Plug a Play into your campus network with a high-speed modem ■ Desktop Systems include Microsoft* Natural* Keyboard and Microsoft Mouse ■ Loaded with Microsoft software for study and fun • Microsoft unite idt winaows 95 wnn wora, Microsoft txcet, PowerPoint. Microsoft Access, Schedule*. Encarta 96 Encyclopedia, Microsoft internet Assistants • Microsoft Windows 95 with Microsoft Internet Explorer tjo • Microsoft Plus! • Gamas for Windows 95 • Norton AntMnis and more ■ Hewlett Packard Color DeskJet available ■ Ask about Microsoft Programmers Dream Pack ' ■ ■.' - ----- jih-.' ’■ =•• _ / - Pn>C***0f 100MHz 133MHz 166MHz . 200MHz IM«w UM 1_«0B * 2.10B Monitor IT IT JUT ''X % IT (l*.r