UNC Charlotte Campus Master Plan

[Neo]

I found the following UNCC master plan renderings on the Cooper, Robertson & Partners website that I don't believe have been posted before (I certainly haven't seen them):

[Skyline49er]

Wow, I really like those renderings and the direction the campus is going in. I also like how Toby Creek becomes bigger and the Research buildings on Tryon. Can't wait to see it happen!!!

[Rufus]

For those that don't know, the last beam for the Student Union was put in place yesterday. Students were encouraged to sign the beam before they put it in place. Also, facade work has begun on the first portion built and they have a model of the windows on display along the road. The maintenance building between the union and Union Deck has been completed on the outside, but idk if it has been fully completed.

The new entrance is coming along nicely. Cars are now able to drive the roundabout but they have to exit from the old entrance still. Brickwork is being done on crosswalks and paving is coming along well.

The Bioinformatics building along 29 is also progressing. it looks like maybe a floor has been done, but def. the foundation.

Still waiting on the redesign of the quad between the Library, Cone, and the arena, but it can wait as long as it wants.

[AuLukey]

For those that don't know, the last beam for the Student Union was put in place yesterday. Students were encouraged to sign the beam before they put it in place. Also, facade work has begun on the first portion built and they have a model of the windows on display along the road. The maintenance building between the union and Union Deck has been completed on the outside, but idk if it has been fully completed.

The new entrance is coming along nicely. Cars are now able to drive the roundabout but they have to exit from the old entrance still. Brickwork is being done on crosswalks and paving is coming along well.

The Bioinformatics building along 29 is also progressing. it looks like maybe a floor has been done, but def. the foundation.

Still waiting on the redesign of the quad between the Library, Cone, and the arena, but it can wait as long as it wants.

[Justadude]

I noticed this last line of the article "The university also may consider ending its practice of giving all tenured professors their own offices." I didn't know they actually did this.

[Niner National]

that master plan is old. I believe that may even be the 1995 master plan. They don't even have cypress (dorm which has already been built) on there. They have also decided to scrap the widening/damming of Toby creek although I'm not sure why.

Right now they are working on a new master plan but before they release it, the results of a study on the highrises must be completed. If they decide its best to keep the highrises, then a lot of the master plan may change. It would eliminate the need for some of the housing on the other side of campus and it would prevent some of the buildings they have proposed along the front entrance to be moved elsewhere.

THese master plans are fun to look at, but they are far from a guarantee that something will happen.

[Miesian Corners]

The University is currently in the process of updating the Master Plan. Ayers Saint Gross, a nationally recognized planning firm, has been awarded the project. Their portfolio includes the master plans of UNC Chapel Hill, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Notre Dame, Arizona State-Tempe, Wake Forest, the College of Charleston, the University of Virginia, and the University of New Hampshire.

Administrators have begun to realize the negatives of former chancellor-Woodward's plan: make the campus is an island surrounded by University City with no attention paid to green design, architectural variety, or building placement. The new plan will attempt to intergrate UNC Charlotte with its surroundings (a pretty damn difficult job when you look at what's around it) and build on (no pun intended) the expertise of faculty at UNC Charlotte in architecture and planning (transportation and land-use). Work on the update has already begun, with student meetings to be held in the near future.

[voyager12]

This may be a bit tangential...but anyway..... I think it's criminal that UNC Charlotte has not done more to ensure that students can safely cross the road to school. I routinely see students playing chicken walking in between cars. The minimal crossing there now is not sufficient. Build pedestrian islands overhung with warning signals. This can be similar to CPCC's student walkways along Liz Ave. The new university sign will be nice but if they have money for that they can also spend it on pressing safety issues.

[AuLukey]

That is part of the new entrance being built on University City Blvd. The plan is to keep the current entrance as a pedestrian crossing only and build a much improved one at the new entrance further down. Also, as part of the CRI campus, there will be improved pedestrian safety implemented on the campus side of N Tryon in the future as that campus grows. I'd imagine they will put off work on N Tryon until the LRT extension is worked on.

I think further effort needs to be made to improve pedestrian safety along John Kirk and on UCB midway between the current entrance and the John Kirk/Old Concord Rd intersection.

[Andyc545]

This may be a bit tangential...but anyway..... I think it's criminal that UNC Charlotte has not done more to ensure that students can safely cross the road to school. I routinely see students playing chicken walking in between cars. The minimal crossing there now is not sufficient. Build pedestrian islands overhung with warning signals. This can be similar to CPCC's student walkways along Liz Ave. The new university sign will be nice but if they have money for that they can also spend it on pressing safety issues.

[nyxmike]

I think almost every year I've been there, someone has been hit and killed because of these safety issues. There are a lot of students that cross this street; it doesn't help that University City Blvd and N Tryon are 45/55 mph, they should be treated at 35, else bridges really need to be built. Aussie is right though, should be next year at the latest that the much needed safety improvements are implemented on UCBlvd. I think the reason why they are hesitant to implement crossing on N Tryon at this point is because they don't want to connect the University to that Bloom/Kohls strip mall, because students are using the parking there, which is private, to avoid paying the 250 dollar parking fee a year. However, more does need to be done, because there are students at the apartments that walk, just next door. I believe I did see improved walkings on the plan that showcased the extension of the road that runs through CRC to the hospital. It will connect with The Shoppes at Univercity Place and where JW Clay Rd is.

[AuLukey]

I agree. I am suprised that after all these years and with all the growth at UNCC, the city/county/school (whoever is responsible) never planned to make University Blvd. more pedestrian friendly. You would think the stretch of road would have curb, sidewalk, and bike lanes by now, with a landscaped median and pedestrian crosswalks/refuge's...

[nyxmike]

This is Charlotte, and, more importantly, you're talking about University City in general there. That's not gonna happen any time this decade unless the mindset in this area completely changes. I really, really hope this can turn into a more eclectic college atmosphere someday, but that is going to take a LOT of work.

[AuLukey]

Well, thankfully, that's what they are doing now. These plans have been posted before, but I feel they are relevant to the discussion at hand:

Unfortunately, this project should have been finished back in January, but funding setbacks have pushed it back. Hopefully we should be able to enjoy it next Fall.

As for new plans for the further increase of pedestrian and bicyclist safety along UCB, there is an additional plan I wasn't aware of between the current entrance and John Kirk/Old Concord/UCB intersection that I mentioned need one a day or two ago.

It also appears that they plan on doing the much needed upgrades along Mary Alexander as well:

Here is the listed plan for N. Tryon as according to the 2007 circulation plan:

Over the long term, the sidewalk and roadway standards established in the City of Charlotte’s

Urban Street Design Guidelines should be met. North Tryon Street is also included in the Centers

and Corridors strategy targeted for future growth. Existing land uses and pedestrian activity and

anticipated growth on North Tryon warrant a street that includes transit, bicycle, and pedestrian

friendly design features. The roadway is categorized in the City’s TAP as a “boulevard” and should

be designed to meet the standards established in Charlotte’s Urban Street Design Guidelines:

- 6-foot minimum width sidewalks, with 8-foot minimum width buffer/planting strips

- 11-foot wide travel lanes

- Speed limit of 35-40mph

- On-road bicycle facilities

[tozmervo]

According to the same circulation report, the current student/parking spot ratio is 1 spot per 1.2 students. The goal is not to develop further parking facilities as the campus grows in order to further promote alternate methods of transportation and higher density abutting the campus. The goal for the university is 1 per 1.5 by 2011 and 1 spot per 2 students by 2015. In my opinion, that's assuming a bit much unless they plan on removing parking spots on campus. But hey, that's one really good way of forcing mass transportation and pedestrian activity on students. Make it nearly impossible to find a spot close to campus and you'll see a lot more students walking or taking the bus to class like in Boone and Chapel Hill.

[nyxmike]

Thank you for all the info! So they do plan on re-doing the quad? Do you have any more info on the renovation of the quad? New brick sidewalks, landscaping, etc?

[AuLukey]

Thank you for all the info! So they do plan on re-doing the quad? Do you have any more info on the renovation of the quad? New brick sidewalks, landscaping, etc?

[Rufus]

Thanks aussie luke. What I don't understand is why they are planning on restricting vehicle access along Craver Rd. Are we now supposed to travel along the loop? What will happen to the parking spaces and such along the road?

[Niner National]

the new front entrance will be finished well before fall aussie luke. Two to three days ago the contractor said they were 60% finished and barring any setbacks, they will be finished by the end of April.

[AuLukey]

Thanks aussie luke. What I don't understand is why they are planning on restricting vehicle access along Craver Rd. Are we now supposed to travel along the loop? What will happen to the parking spaces and such along the road?

[Miesian Corners]

Well, those parking lots are non-existent now and it appears that all street-side parking on campus is going away to make more room for sidewalks and bicycle lanes. This will also greatly decrease the number of accidents on campus caused by those spots.

[Niner National]

Well, those parking lots are non-existent now and it appears that all street-side parking on campus is going away to make more room for sidewalks and bicycle lanes. This will also greatly decrease the number of accidents on campus caused by those spots.

wow, that's great! I had some free time on campus today and took a stroll around the construction area and it looked pretty far off to me, but I'm not an engineer so that was just my guess that they would be putting the finishing touches on the entire project this summer. That is, I didn't mean the road itself, but the actual Phase I entrance with the new sign/column and landscaping. The road I can see, but the entire project seems like a lot to be finished in a month. I do hope he is right though.

[AuLukey]

we'll see I suppose. They have been moving at a remarkable rate, so I think they can finish it if they have no setbacks. There are a lot of people working on this project. The pillars won't take long to complete. They put up the majority of the structure of one in about a day, maybe two. Can't wait until its finished though.

[AuLukey]

Just a small update. They have now finished constructing the front entrance pillars. I was driving down UCB today and they had a lane closed on both side of the road. It appears that they are just now starting on the actual road work as the grass median is still there. They have awhile to go before they are going to be able to open up that entrance if work on that intersection has just now begun. I wonder why this was put off until the end of the project. It seems as if they almost have the entire project wrapped up outside of this last portion. I wonder if there was a hold up by the state since this is a state highway. I wish they had started on this portion first and done work at night as traffic was pretty heavily affected almost all day before rush hour.

[AuLukey]

A few small tidbits from UNCC's Planning and Capital Projects division:

• Center City Classroom Building – design and construct a 150,000sf LEED certified building (Charlotte Campus) located in uptown Charlotte to house graduate level classes, continuing education, certificate courses, public programs, etc.

– $31–$35M Estimated Construction Cost

– Contract Type – Construction Manager at Risk

– Architect: Kieran Timberlake Associates in partnership with Gantt Huberman Architects

– Construction Manager at Risk: Rodgers Builders

– Commissioning Services: Engineering Economics, Inc.

– Pre-qualify Contractors – Fall 2008

– Construction to begin late 2008

• Energy Production Infrastructure Center (EPIC) – design and build a 200,000sf LEED certified building that will will provide classroom and state of the art laboratory space to accommodate growth in energy infrastructure research and collaboration with industry partners. The project includes expansion of a regional utility plant and the extension of an existing road to a signalized intersection

– Estimated Construction Cost – TBD pending design development

– Contract Type – Construction Manager at Risk

– Architect: Narmour Wright Creech Architecture, PA (same firm that designed the NCRC)

– Construction Manger at Risk short listed candidates – Balfour Beatty Construction, BE&K Building Group/Tyler 2 Construction, Rodgers Russell, and Turner Construction Company. Construction Manager at Risk TBD May 2008

• Residence Hall Phase 9 – design and complete construction of a new LEED certified 600 bed residence hall comprised of 4 bedroom apartments with centrally located laundry rooms. The facility will sit on the site of parking lot

– $30–$31M Estimated Construction Cost

– Designer: Clark-Nexsen

– Contract Type – Construction Manager at Risk

– Advertise for Construction Manager at Risk – Submittals were due March 21, 2008.

– Construction Manger at Risk short listed candidates – Balfour Beatty Construction, Barnhill Contracting, BE&K Building Group/Tyler 2 Construction, Edifice Inc., and Rodgers Russell. Construction Manager at Risk TBD May 2008

– Advertise for LEED Commissioning Agent – submittals were due April 24, 2008. Commissioning Agent TBD May 2008

• Parking Facilities Expansion (Deck H) – design and build a new LEED certified parking deck to the west of parking lot 25 that will accommodate 950-1000 parking spaces and the light rail line

– Estimated Construction Cost – TBD pending design development

– Contract Type – Construction Manager at Risk

– Designer: The following firms have been short listed – ADW Architect/Neighboring Concepts, Clark-Nexsen, LS3P, Walter Robbs Callahan and Pierce. Designer TBD May 2008

– Advertise for Construction Manager at Risk – Submittals were due May 6, 2008. Short list Construction Manager at Risk firms – June 2008

• Prospector Hall Renovation Phase II – renovate the existing interior/exterior area of the Prospector Dining/Bookstore for the future expansion of the existing postal facility. Conversion of the existing bookstore, on the lower level, into a copy center a new food service facility on the upper area of the existing bookstore. Construction to coincide with completion of the new Student Union

– Estimated Construction Cost – TBD pending design development

– Contract Type – Single Prime

– Designer: Tobin + Dudley PLLC

– Pre-qualify Contractors – TBD pending design completion