Railway to campus
There’s hope on the horizon for the embattled hikers of 700 North.
Plans are in place to install a rail along the sidewalk on Nov. 12 to assist pedestrians through the icy winter months.
No, this is not a joke, although it started out as one, said Amanda Peterson, member of a USU Management and Human Resources group, part of a class in the business deapartment.
“It was actually my idea to install the rail on 700 North,” she said in an e-mail. “The idea came about as kind of a joke when other ideas weren’t working out.”
Peterson said she was a resident of Edgehill Apartments last year, and she was forced to make the “miserable climb” throughout the year.
“Pretty much every day my roommates and I would whine and say that if we ever came across a boy who needed an idea for an Eagle Scout project, we’d highly recommend building a rail [on 700 North],” she said.
A year later, Peterson halfheartedly pitched the idea of a rail on 700 North to her MHR group and now the joke is becoming a real-life punch line. “Unfortunately, I’m not living [at Edgehill Apartments] now that there will be a rail, but hopefully it will come in handy for those who have to drag themselves up and balance their way down that incline in the ice,” she said.
Nathan Ellison, who is also involved in the railing project, said he had the responsibility of retrieving permission from the city of Logan to construct the rail. He found out that the section of sidewalk proposed for the railing used to be a section of road, “but it was too dangerous in the winter, so they turned it into a grass area with a sidewalk up it,” he said in an e-mail.
Understanding the danger of the sidewalk up 700 North quite well, Logan city officials were very enthusiastic about the idea. “They were really excited and thought it was a great idea,” Ellison said. “They even waived the standard fee that we would have to pay.”
City officials aren’t the only ones excited about the railing. Word is spreading about the project and the response is positive, Peterson said. “The people that have heard [about the railing] are a bit surprised, but seem pretty happy that it’s getting done,” she said, adding, “There definitely seems to be a consensus that anything will help out on that hill.”
Greg England, the leader of the railing project, said installation of the rail will begin on Nov. 12.
Peterson indicated that construction of the railing will be mostly funded by donations. Ellison also pointed out, “We are accepting any donations toward the railing fund.” she said.
Perhaps if enough donations are collected, an escalator can be built instead.
But for now, that’s just a joke.
-cunningham@cc.usu.edu