When taking detours, please use the sidewalks
The orange fences around the Utah State University campus aren’t accompanied by detour signs because the construction has been designed so students can easily find a sidewalk to make their way around it.
“With all this rain, you might want to save a few steps walking on the grass,” said Ellen Newell, USU’s landscape manager. “But there’s always a way to the sidewalk.”
Since the snow melted, Facilities has been preparing the campus for students and guests at end-of-the-year events – graduation, in particular- to enjoy.
“I like to see people use the landscape – students out there reading a book or sleeping or whatever,” she said. “It’s really nice to see the landscape put to use.”
. Facilities used to put up signs on the Quad – “Don’t Follow the Herd” with a picture of a sheep or a cow or something, she said – but it didn’t work. She said it’s annoying, but understandable.
“When I was a student, my whole thought process was on school, it wasn’t on maintaining the lawn,” she said.
It’s not hard to guess where cow trails will pop up – anywhere grass covers the straightest path from point A to point B. With construction blocking sidewalks that used to offer this straight line, students are herding across the grass in places Facilities never used to worry about.
They’re everywhere, but she identified some of the worst areas:
• The Quad
• North of the Animal Science Building, next to the waterfall
• Between the Taggart Student Center and the Institute Building, crossing to sororities
• The double sidewalk east of the TSC parking lot and the University Inn
• East side of the Industrial Science Building by the bus stop
• The south side of the Engineering Building leading to the Merrill Library
• West of the Business Building, cutting across from the Eccles Conference Center
This time of year, Facilities already has its hands full.
“It’s kind of like two steps forward and one step back,” Newell said. “Those cow trails keep adding another project to the list.”
The trampled soil has to be aerated and re-seeded – cow trails popping up now probably won’t heal in time to look nice for graduation.
“We’d like to spend our time adding to the campus,” she said. “We spend a lot of money and time redoing things instead of on new things.”
The orange fences won’t be coming down any time soon, and more may be added to block students from making existing cow trails worse.
The contracting company is responsible for guaranteeing access during every phase of construction. Facilities began planning for the construction months ago and meets every week to make sure it stays on track, said Daryl Hart, Facilities director.
“It’s going to be awkward and we’re going to have a year of some real strain,” he said. “But there is a plan. Construction is a pain; we’re trying to make it as easy on you guys as possible.”