Road to be closed during day from Preston College to Pickens Street after quad renovation
USC plans to start “training” drivers to avoid Greene Street during the day, as it plans to gate off more of the road.
The university plans to meet with city government and the state Department of Transportation about blocking traffic on Greene from around Preston Residential College to near Pickens Street during school days, according to Derek Gruner, Facilities planning and programming director.
The project would see the installation of three new gates: one just past the Petigru College parking lot entrance, one that would enclose Preston Residential College and one uphill from the Russell House’s loading dock that would eliminate some on-street parking on Bull Street, according to university spokesman Wes Hickman. They’d be closed from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The road closures are planned to start in mid-May, according to a presentation to USC trustees last week, the same time the university is planning to start a $27.2 million project to renovate the Women’s Quadrangle.
The affected area is in a primary pedestrian pathway that’s grown congested with Petigru’s renovation work.
USC counted the vehicle and pedestrian traffic last year at six intersections that would be affected, Hickman said, but specific numbers weren’t available by press time.
USC is also planning to build a traffic circle on Bull Street starting in April of 2014, so drivers can turn around more easily if they don’t know about the closure, Gruner said. Doing so would also allow for a new bus stop.
How much the projects will cost hasn’t been determined yet, Hickman said, as the university is compiling estimates.
The project would require city approval because of the road closure, and the state Department of Transportation would need to be notified because it would affect traffic flow on Pickens and Blossom streets, which are state-run, according to Hickman.
“We’ve had a series of meetings with city staff and don’t anticipate any objections,” Hickman wrote in an email response.