The Starting Point

2001-2020 Master Plan

2007 Update

Environmental Stewardship

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The committee hired three consultants to advise us in realizing this vision. Ayers Saint Gross of Baltimore, one of the leading campus planners in the country, has re-designed dozens of prominent campuses, including Johns Hopkins, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Emory University in Atlanta. Ayers Saint Gross subcontracted with Biohabitats Inc. and Martin/Alexiou/Bryson to provide detailed analyses and recommendations for the campus environment and transportation situations.

The consultants were given free rein to imagine how we could achieve our goals and share with us their insights. What they brought back to us is stunning, daring and exciting in its possibilities. What they are proposing can be done if we want to do it. Imagine:

• Natural environments recognized as assets for education and research that are enhanced and protected for study and for aesthetic value.
  
  
• A campus that meets all the needs of tomorrow's students and faculty and has more quality open space than we have today.
  
  
• A transportation system that ensures that any point on campus is within 10 minutes of any other point on campus.
  
  
• A series of "neighborhoods" connected by walking corridors unobstructed by automobile traffic.

These and other features can be achieved by adopting many of the suggestions provided by our consultants. For example, by strategically locating new parking structures around the periphery of the campus, we can minimize cross-campus traffic and reclaim surface parking lots as building space and green space ­ with a net increase in green space.

With a circulating shuttle system using modern, alternative-fuel vehicles, we can provide quick and efficient access to all parts of the campus while reducing noise and air pollution, as well as hazards for drivers and pedestrians alike.

Careful planning can enhance and preserve the cultural and aesthetic qualities of the various districts that make up the campus, resulting in a coherent design that treats nature gently and truly represents the highest values of the university.

A sane approach to transportation and parking, sufficient student housing and university participation in the enhanced development of the Route 1 Corridor will bring the university and the city of College Park closer in every way.

Click here for a more detailed look at the plan.