Here is information about engineering campus construction activities that may affect you in the coming week.
Important
- PEDESTRIANS: Please do not walk down Engineering Drive or Randall Avenue. Use designated sidewalks and crossings and refrain from walking in roadways or crossing in the middle of streets. View the project update page at facilities.engr.wisc.edu/project-update/ for a map of identified pedestrian routes.
- VEHICLES: Be mindful of pedestrians in crosswalks; if you need to pause while traveling through campus, please keep crosswalks open. Please obey posted speed limit signs.
- Please obey flagger signals. Whether you are on foot, in a vehicle or using other transportation, these people are there to keep you safe when construction equipment is operating outside fenced areas.
- Plan ahead and keep your eyes up. Take extra care as you travel through and adjacent to the engineering campus. Be aware of construction (and related) vehicles entering and exiting locations across the engineering campus. Please avoid all fenced areas as well as construction trailers adjacent to the UW Athletics facilities. And be patient and tolerant. We appreciate your role in keeping everyone safe.
New info: Changes and closures anticipated in the week ahead
- There is a scheduled Chilled Water outage for Engineering Hall starting late afternoon on Friday Oct. 17 – Sunday Oct. 19.
- There will be no pile driving associated with the Utility Project over the next week. Pile removal will commence at the beginning of next week to remove piles directly east of the Engineering Research Building Plaza. This work should take one to two days to complete.
- Pile driving will continue this week and next week for the Phillip A. Levy Engineering Center at the building corner closest to the intersection of Randall Avenue and Campus Drive (There is a map forecasting pile driving locations on the project updates page on our facilities website.)
- At the end of week of Oct. 13 and the week of Oct. 20, there will be waterproofing adjacent to the Engineering Research Building on Engineering Drive and Engineering Mall and on the south side of the Material Science Building.
- All Engineering Drive-area entrances to the Mechanical Engineering Building are now open. For safety considerations, please stay out of the fenced in areas.
Ongoing
- Vehicle realignment along Engineering Drive is complete. Please be mindful of the new traffic pattern and recently installed speed bumps. The pedestrian path on the north side of Engineering Drive is expected to shift closer to the realigned road, but a specific date for relocation has not been provided.
- Demolition activity for the remaining foundation of 1410 Engineering Drive is underway. Expect increased truck traffic coming in and out of the adjacent construction entrance.
- At times, you may notice odors in buildings adjacent to construction activity. Most of these odors are temporary; however, if the odors persist, please contact our facilities team at coe-facilities@engr.wisc.edu. If needed, make arrangements with your supervisor for an alternate work location.
- Running through December, there is a temporary pedestrian path through Engineering Mall from Engineering Hall to University Avenue.
- The Engineering Research Building loading dock is closed. Mail and shipping staff will operate out of the Engineering Centers Building receiving area; you can find contact information for these individuals on the loading dock door.
- Semi deliveries can no longer be accepted at College of Engineering loading docks. We would like most deliveries to go to MDS requiring an elevated dock; however, larger items on flatbeds that cannot be accepted by MDS should be coordinated by contacting our facilities team at coe-facilities@engr.wisc.edu.
- Road restoration work on Randall Avenue is ongoing. Through October, all lanes of Randall Avenue will be closed near Engineering Drive.
– If you are traveling southbound on Randall Avenue, you will still be able to turn right into Engineering Drive as usual.
– You will only be able to exit Engineering Drive by turning to the left. Southbound (right turn) access to Randall Avenue will be unavailable. Please reference the map at facilities.engr.wisc.edu/project-update/
– The bus stops on Randall Avenue adjacent to Engineering Hall and adjacent to Wendt Commons will close during this time. View Route 80 detour information. View detour information for Routes D and O.
For future planning or awareness
- The pedestrian ramp adjacent to ERB is planned to be closed for a short period on either Thursday, Oct. 23 or Friday, Oct. 24. This closure is to continue working on the concrete tunnel and steam pit. Similar short-term closures will occur intermittently over the next few weeks as tunnel construction continues in this area.
Please be careful and aware: Whether you are on foot, bike, scooter, moped, in a vehicle, or otherwise, be alert and know what’s happening around you. If you see an immediate safety concern, please reach out to Pete Nemmetz, our assistant dean for facilities, right away, at pnemmetz@wisc.edu.
As always, many factors, including weather and other unknowns, may impact construction activities. If our contractors need to make unanticipated changes, I ask that you respect their instructions, and be patient with them and others.
Once again, our goal is to keep you informed about what’s happening for your safety and route-planning purposes.