Sustainable Transportation and Grounds in UIC - University of ...

Report to UIC 30 Chancellor’s Committee on Sustainability and Energy
UIC Campus Master Plan Initial Findings
The UIC Campus Master Planning process began in the fall of 2008
and will continue for about 18 months. The Vision Statement for the
plan (dated November 26, 2008) states that:
The UIC Campus of the Future will be a public destination that
integrates the learning environment for scholarship with the urban
vitality of a global Chicago. At UIC, students, faculty, staff, alumni,
collaborators, visitors, neighbors, donors, friends, and potential
development partners and other stakeholders will experience a vibrant
campus – featuring sustainable buildings and landscapes – that
engages the learner, satisfies the curious, inspires the creative and
attracts the passerby.
Initial findings from the Phase I work that are relevant to this report
are as follows:
• Pedestrian Connection - A viable pedestrian corridor between
the east and west sides of UIC would improve the sense of
campus unity. However, as many reading this document will
know, walking from the center of one side of campus to the
other can take as long as thirty minutes. Hence, while a
pedestrian connection might still be sought, other means of
transportation will need to be re-established to make the
everyday trek between east and west work efficiently.
• Bike Lanes - The connections between the two sides of the
campus and between the campus and city could be enabled
through bike lanes.
• Bus Routes - UIC provides shuttle buses for students and
faculty to connect the east Side of campus to the west.
Presently, the routes of these buses are too circuitous to
provide an efficient connection and the buses are commonly
slow and late. Further, this diagram shows that the buses don’t
connect the centers of the two sides of campus; rather, the
buses concentrate on peripheral roads such as Harrison Street
and provide too many stops at “front doors” of buildings.
Opportunities for more efficient routes will be considered.
• CTA Bus Routes - CTA buses have routes that are far more
direct and efficient than those of the UIC busses. There could
be an opportunity to eliminate or reduce the UIC routes and
provide all UIC people with CTA passes for transport between
the two sides of campus. Additionally, the CTA routes prove
that bus transit is possible on direct roads between east and
west campus, such as Taylor Street.
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