The Rampage Dec 2019

The Rampage

Stories

14

State Looks at Improving

College Avenue

by Axel Johansson

Graphic Communication • 2022

T he Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) is looking to increase the safety and mobility of College Avenue. To do this, VDOT is seeking input from people who use the road daily. For example, VDOT recently hosted a public forum allowing residents to provide feedback. They hope the comments will help them determine what the community thinks the road needs, what issues the road has, and what opportunities there are to improve the road. Another way local residents can provide feedback is through a survey posted on the VDOT website that allows citizens to share their thoughts about the project. The survey asks how often residents use the road, why they use it, and other questions that will help VDOT understand what the biggest problem areas may be. Michelle Earl, VDOTs communication manager for the 12-county Bristol District, said they can’t know what changes are going to be made at this point since they are still waiting for survey results. “At the public meeting we held last month, we showed the issues we see in this area based on the data we have,” Earl said, “but we wanted feedback from those who travel in the area regularly/daily.” Two Bluefield College students talked about the project and what they thought would be good improvements. Bluefield College student Gabriel Blakman shared his thoughts about the project and what he thinks would be good improvements. Blakman said that the traffic flow is high during lunch and dinner, which means that it becomes dangerous to walk on College Avenue since the sidewalk doesn’t extend to all the restaurants and stores on the road. “They need to connect that small sidewalk and at least make it go all the way to the bottom of the hill,” Blakman said. Elias Garcia said that the traffic gets way too high during certain times of the day, which makes it hard to enter College Avenue, especially at the intersection of Stadium Drive and College Avenue near the Dome Gymnasium. Garcia said he thinks that maybe some sort of roundabout would make it easier to enter the road there. Students, faculty and staff interested in completing the survey should visit the VDOT website or contact Ruth Blankenship, BC’s vice president for administration, by email at rblankenship@bluefield.edu .