University of Kentucky officials want to make the temporary closure of a portion of Rose Street permanent.
The section of Rose Street that cuts through the center of campus has long been a trouble spot – with heavy foot traffic reliably clogging up the works. Since 2014, the segment between Columbia Avenue and Huguelet Drove has been off limits to traffic for construction of the new Academic Science building.
Tuesday, UK presented plans to the city’s Planning and Public Safety Committee to keep a portion of the street closed, allowing for a route to parking on Funkhouser.
"Our goals for closing Rose are to promote safe access in and around campus and preserve the pedestrian priority in the campus core," Mary Vosevich, vice president of facilities management of UK, began her presentation.
Committee member Jennifer Scutchfield urged the panel to pump the brakes on the project while the effects on surrounding roads could be studied.
"We have parking structures. We have large amounts of people that all the sudden we're going to throw out onto Sunset," she said. "I'm really concerned about us making a decision regarding one street without looking at the entire picture."
No action was taken, but the proposal will be evaluated by city planners. The resulting recommendations will be delivered back to the council.
