Ribbon-cutting celebrates improvements for 24th Street

Improvements unify the east and west campus

On a sunny morning under a canopy of trees in front of Main Building, OLLU students, faculty and staff attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the 24^th Street Improvement Project. Mayor Julian Castro, District 5 Councilman David Medina Jr., Assistant City Manager Peter Zanoni and City Engineer Mike Frisbie joined OLLU President Tessa Martinez Pollack, PhD, and the OLLU community to cut the ribbon along one of the newly-constructed crosswalks that unify the east and west campuses of OLLU.

After nearly two years of construction, students, faculty, staff and the surrounding community can see the vast improvements made along 24^th Street – improvements that ease the flow of traffic, make crossing the campus safer and are more aesthetically pleasing.

The project began in 2010 after OLLU conducted an extensive traffic study, which concluded that reconfiguring 24th Street from four lanes to two would reduce the amount and speed of traffic, making it safer for students, faculty and staff to cross 24th Street.

Improvements consisted of a full-reconstruction of 24th Street from south of the Elmendorf Lake Bridge to just south of San Luis Street from a four-lane road to a two-lane road. Construction included new medians, four-foot shoulders on both sides of the street for bicycles, crosswalks dedicated for pedestrians, sidewalks and wheelchair ramps, traffic signals at each crosswalk, street beautification and landscaping.

Additionally, utility lines were buried, and a new storm sewer system and water and gas lines were installed.