College wades into issue of muddy paths Planners look to improve pedestrian experience on campus

Author: Ian Schmertzler

The College is exploring possible improvements in the layout of sidewalks on campus following the adoption of a strategic plan that calls for greater pedestrian access to key buildings.

President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz said that the College wants to address the need to improve pedestrian access across campus, but also hopes to do so without disrupting its rural aesthetics.

"The issue of making Middlebury a more friendly pedestrian campus and more accessible has been with us for some time," Liebowitz said. "I believe maintaining a green campus and facilitating easy access are not mutually exclusive. We can be green and provide better and easier access to points on campus."

With numerous makeshift dirt paths that turn to mud in the rain and ice in the winter - sometimes used more frequently than the sidewalks they ignore - the Strategic Plan calls for a pedestrian-friendly campus while acknowledging a number of impediments.

"Our location on a hillside, winter climate, and many older buildings mean that universal accessibility remains a significant challenge," reads the Plan, adopted last May.

Associate Vice President for Facilities Susan Personette, who is heading the planning effort to address pedestrian traffic, said the College plans to "pave the cow paths" that have been so problematic. Personette cited the lack of sidewalks along Old Chapel Road and the network of dirt paths across the open space surrounding the Atwater Residence Halls as particularly troublesome.

"I'm sure everyone on campus has his or her own particular favorites," she added.

"The new campus master plan will address sidewalks as part of both the transportation and pedestrian campus study and the landscape plan," Personette said. Though that plan will likely remain incomplete until next October, she explained that the College has appropriated funds to pave the most frequently used dirt pathways.

Personette emphasized that being green feel does not, however, mean leaving the dirt paths in place. Rather, she hopes to move the campus toward a more coherent pedestrian path system as opposed to a random network of pathways.

"I'm not a landscape architect," Personette said, "but I would say common sense plus aesthetics" will drive the planning process. Her hope is to create a sidewalk network that will efficiently shuttle pedestrians between structures while also allowing them to "take in views of our beautiful natural environment, stop to smell the roses, stop and talk with others and maybe have a place to sit down for a moment."

Planners also hope that a more efficient pedestrian system will reduce vehicular traffic - a goal they say fits well with the College's environmental mission.

"It is not an issue of green versus access" Liebowitz said. "The two can be very much in sync with one another. The balance is making the campus more user accommodating to the pedestrian, while respecting the needs of faculty, staff, and students to use their vehicles when necessary."

Personette said that the College would have to pay extra for sidewalks that could handle Vermont's extended months of inclement weather. The new pavement, like that already in place, will have to withstand frequent frost heaves, the rapid expansion of freezing soil, and bear the weight of snow plows, service trucks and the occasional emergency vehicle. They will also have to conform to Middlebury's hilly terrain, which means wrapping sidewalks around inclines instead of paving uphill in a straight line.

"Good sidewalks are not inexpensive," Personette said. "[Curved sidewalks] are a means of addressing some of our steep slopes so those with movement disabilities can negotiate them more readily."

An open forum concerning early findings and ideas for the campus master plan will be held in early December.