Despite the carnage budget cuts are bringing to campus, the University of Wisconsin-Platteville has set aside $16 million for the development of moving walkways.
The sidewalks of Greenwood Avenue, Longhorn Drive, Southwest Road, Main Street, College Drive and Circle Drive are getting renovated. A colossal building project which begins this summer will turn these stationary sidewalks into moving walkways.
The walkways will be funded with the budget, federal grants, as well as an anonymous donor who gave $10 million to the project if UW-Platteville agreed to name it “The Scott Walker.”
Justin Markham, a junior ventriloquism major is unsure about the walkways.
“I think they will be great for students who live in the dorms,” Markham said. “But I don’t think there is anything wrong with the shuttle system either.”
Once the walkways are complete they will run from 7 a.m. until midnight every day. The shuttles will then only operate off campus, to places like Wal-mart and Piggly Wiggly. Four of the shuttle drivers will be let go.
“The university is making a huge mistake and is wasting millions of dollars,” Steve Treer, driver of one of the shuttles said. “I’ve been working here for 20 years and suddenly the University decides to eliminate my position? I don’t know how I’m going to feed my family of 17.”
A team of four mechanical engineers, one industrial engineer, and two engineering students worked for five months finalizing the details of the walkway. Taylor Grippsen, senior mechanical engineering major, is one of the students working on the project.
“This has been a great experience. It gave me real-world experience and it is something that will benefit the campus,” Grippsen said.
However, the whole process was not always fun and successes. This is Wisconsin, after all, and weather is a factor not even engineers can ignore.
“The most challenging thing about the project was figuring out how to weather-proof the walkway,” Grippsen said. “Winter weather was a huge issue. We debated for days about the probability of the conveyor belt freezing if it was exposed to cold conditions, but I think we solved the problem in a way that will make everyone happy.”
In order to assist with potential weather problems, the walkway will have a dome around it with openings in the walls which will allow people to get on and off at their place of choice. The walkway will also be climate controlled, and the dome will keep heat and air conditioning in.
“Having heated walkways will be amazing in the winter. No more frostbite for me!” Hailey Petron, sophomore alchemy major said.
Already there are plans to expand the project. McDonald’s Corp. is willing to pay three quarters of the cost of having the walkway expanded to run through their drive-thru.
“This is such a great business opportunity. McDonald’s is already one of the most popular fast food restaurants in town, so why not make it easier for students to get here?” George Pollocks, manager of Platteville’s McDonald’s said.
Construction on the walkways is scheduled to begin in June 2015 and should be completed by Nov. 2015.