Student residents of University Drive have expressed negative reactions to the construction that began last May on the street that runs directly through TCU.
“It’s kind of frustrating living right next to campus,” said Harrison Smith, a junior nursing major. “For one, I can’t even pull into my own driveway and in the beginning of the year I had to park in a separate lot.
“Mainly, I don’t like the traffic.”
Jack Mallick, a junior economics major, called the construction “absurd.”
“Honestly, I don’t understand how this can fly without compensation or something,” Mallick said.
University Drive student residents added that the traffic has been difficult to deal with.
“It’s been really busy. The fact that it’s down to two lanes is pretty frustrating and I have to leave a lot earlier to get places,” said Kendall Looney, a senior nursing major.
The Fort Worth Water Department is putting in a new water line on University Drive next to TCU, according to Mary Gugliuzza, the communications representative from the department.
“Most of the pipe is in the ground and they have made the connections from the old pipe to the new pipe. Now the construction workers are working on the street repairs and patching up University,” Gugliuzza said.
Gugliuzza said that despite heavy traffic, there wasn’t another time to do this project and that the water department is working as fast as it can.
TCU works closely with the Fort Worth Water Department to plan the construction, according to Harold Leeman, associate director for major projects and facilities planning.
“We’ve gotten a good working relationship with the city,” Leeman said. “We have to get water plans through them.”
“The city is putting new water pipes for drinking water in and they’ve had this on the books for quite a while to build,” Leeman said.
Leeman added that the water department said they would open up the whole street on game days in compliance with TCU.
The water department is working on more water repairs on Bellaire Drive North and Stadium Drive in January.
The construction on University Drive will be finished in mid-October, according to Gugliuzza.
This story was originally posted on tcu360.com