Student commuters often list complaints about traffic and lack of on-campus parking among their biggest woes.
Unfortunately, one of those complaints may last a little longer than expected. As of Monday, Feb. 16, beginning at 7:30 a.m., the City of Tallahassee will close Pershing Street between Bronough and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Additionally, one lane of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard will be closed to traffic between Harrison and Gamble Streets.
Bill Behenna, Public Information Manager for the Department of Communications, is certain that the closings will not pose a big problem to commuters.
” One lane of Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. will still be open and there will be flagmen out there in the streets directing traffic,” he said.
“The purpose of this project is for street improvements, which involves rebuilding the sidewalks and adding curbs and gutters,” Behenna added.
Chezne Brown, a junior from Tampa, said the city did not consider the student population when it planned the closures.
“The City of Tallahassee should be more considerate of students. These kind of construction jobs should be planned during the summer when student enrollment is not as large as during the fall or spring semesters,” said the 20-year-old criminal justice student.
Marrika Martin, who drives to campus daily, agreed that the City of Tallahassee should have considered student commuters. ” I feel that they should have done it during the spring break or even during the summer time when not as many students will be commuting to and from campus”, said the 20-year-old psychology student from Los Angeles.
The project was originally scheduled to begin on Feb. 2, but was unexpectedly delayed by two weeks. The streets should be re-opened to traffic on Monday, March 1.
For more information on the street closures, citizens are encouraged to contact Bill Behenna at the Department of Communications at (850) 891-8533.
Contact Tyre Sperling at tsperling2001@Yahoo.com.