PLANT OPERATIONS PAVING WAY
TOWARD ACCESSIBLE CAMPUS

Thanks to recent sidewalk additions and makeovers, the University of Houston is paving the way for a campus that’s more accessible for disabled faculty, staff and students.

Brand new sidewalks were just added along Wheeler Street leading to the UH Department of Public Safety and along both sides of Cullen Boulevard near Cullen Oaks and Cambridge Oaks apartments and across the street near the Clinical Research Center.

Sidewalks and sidewalk ramps are being added along Holman Street near the Moores School of Music and the Lyndall Finley Wortham Theatre and on the east side of campus near the Hilton University of Houston Hotel, the University Center and Ezekiel Cullen Building. Both of these projects will be completed this summer.

Last fall, five blocks of sidewalk were also added along University Drive to provide easier pedestrian access to the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center.

“We’re adding about 20,000 of square feet of new sidewalks and an equal amount of repaired sidewalks,” said David Irvin, associate vice president for plant operations.

Various areas of campus were identified as needing either new sidewalks or sidewalk repairs during Disability Week 2004 in October.

Irvin is a regular participant in the annual wheelchair tour during Disability Week that allows faculty, staff and students to learn what it’s like to travel around campus in a wheelchair. He said that participating in this event is helpful when prioritizing facilities and construction projects.

“When you’re walking, you often don’t think about small bumps, cracks or even the lack of sidewalks in some parts of campus,” he said. “Once you’re in the wheelchair and making your way across campus, you instantly notice everything that needs to be fixed.”

Irvin said that the plant operations department undertook these sidewalk projects itself as opposed to hiring contractors, a move that proved to be cost effective.

“We saved the university approximately $70,000 to $80,000 by doing this,” he said.

Irvin and officials at UH’s Center for Students With DisAbilities are planning future projects that will increase wheelchair accessibility. Two primary sidewalk areas he anticipates renovating are near Cullen Family Plaza and between McElhinney Hall and Farish Hall.

“This is an ongoing project,” he said. “There are miles of sidewalk on this campus, and we hope to make every inch of them accommodating for the UH community.”