Updated Sept. 14: As of today, no left or right turns are permitted from Old Davis Road onto Mrak Hall Drive. Use Alumni Lane instead (in front of the Welcome Center). The turn-lane restrictions and detour will last until approximately Sept. 25.

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By Dateline staff

Road work at the campus’s south entry will not require the closure of Old Davis Road, after all.

Design and Construction Management worked with the contractor to devise a new plan that does away with a detour through parking Lots 1 and 2, behind the south entry parking garage.

Instead, Old Davis Road will remain open to through traffic — that is, for cars going between downtown Davis and the south campus and Interstate 80.

One part of Old Davis Road will be closed: the left-turn lane at Mrak Hall Drive. But a short detour to Alumni Lane will get you where you’re going. The contractor estimated the turn-lane closure would begin around the end of next week and last for about two weeks, concluding by Sept. 25.

Officials caution drivers to go slow and to expect short delays through the construction zone, where the lanes will be repositioned temporarily as work progresses from the middle of the road to the edge on both sides.

Here's what pedestrians need to know: You will still be able to cross the road, but you'll have to take a short detour to the east side of the intersection.

Meanwhile, preliminary construction is underway on the project’s two parts:

• A new crosswalk between the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts and the Gateway Parking Structure. The existing crosswalk is supersized at 60 feet wide; the new crosswalk will be 30 feet wide (still wider than most crosswalks) and will line up with the center of the plaza between the garage and the Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art (now under construction).
• A bus turnout on the south side of Old Davis Road, as a drop-off and pickup point for, among others, museum visitors.

Problematic crosswalk

Christina De Martini Reyes, the campus’s associate landscape architect, who is involved in the project design, said the supersized crosswalk has been problematic in that drivers who are unfamiliar with the intersection can be unsure of where to stop — and, as a result, they sometimes stop in the crosswalk.

“Reducing the width of the crossing is also necessary for the bus pullout to function safely,” she said.

The new crosswalk, like the old one, will have a smooth concrete finish and will be delineated by white crosswalk striping as well.

In carrying out the project, the campus also is eliminating some signal “pollution” — traffic and pedestrian signals now occupy nine poles. That number will be reduced to six.

Bob Segar, associate vice chancellor for Campus Planning and Community Resources, said: “We hope these improvements will reduce the confusion at this important intersection for pedestrians and motorists. We want to provide a safe and welcoming environment for first-time visitors, special events and daily campus use.”

The Old Davis Road median will be extended to fill the space formerly occupied by part of the crosswalk. The campus is in the process of converting the median’s turf to drought-tolerant landscaping; completion is expected in the spring.

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