IV. The Plan to Meet the University's Facilities Needs
A. Global Issues: Environmental Stewardship, Vehicular and Pedestrian Circulation, and Land Use
- Environmental Stewardship: (Figures 2 and 3)
Goal: Preserve and reinforce regional ecological connections.
Recommended Actions:
- Establish greenways.
- Manage invasive species.
- Protect streams and wetlands.
- Protect existing specimen trees.
- Restore and enhance forest cover.
Goal: Restore the natural hydrologic cycle.
Recommended Actions:
- Manage storm water run-off more effectively.
- Improve water quality.
Goal: Foster ecological stewardship.
Recommended Actions:
- Develop specific policies and goals to reduce consumption of non-renewable resources.
- Minimize hazardous and toxic materials.
- Promote environmentally responsible procurement of goods and services.
- Adopt a waste reduction goal for the campus.
- Incorporate energy conservation measures and renewable energy production.
- Implement "green" architecture.
Goal: Explore and implement historic preservation measures.
Recommended Actions:
- Establish campus historic preservation policies.
- Complete study of campus historic resources (buildings and landscapes).
- Vehicular and pedestrian circulation: (Figures 4, 5, and 6)
Goal: Maximize use of alternatives to driving to campus alone.
Recommended Actions:
- Improve the campus's integration into the regional transit system network in the short term by increasing the frequency of shuttle busses between campus and UM/College Park Green Line Metro station.
- Build UM park-and-ride facilities with high quality transit.
- Support purple line stations on or adjacent to campus.
- Introduce pre-tax payroll deduction for transit pass/voucher.
- Offer pre-tax benefit for parking at park-and-ride facilities.
- Coordinate centralized information through the Commuter Services Office.
- Fine-tune Shuttle-UM commuter routes/service.
Goal: Create a more pedestrian-friendly central campus and significantly reduce number of automobiles.
Recommended Actions:
- Allow only restricted automobile access to internal streets with high pedestrian volumes and conflicts.
- Establish a high quality internal campus loop shuttle throughout the center of the campus that will provide convenient intra-campus travel and reduce internal auto travel.
- Organize campus growth around a series of new open spaces friendly to pedestrians and bicycles.
Goal: Minimize new parking on campus.
Recommended Actions:
- Improve the environment for bicycles within and around campus.
- Replace surface lots with garages.
- The Use of Land and Real Property to Reflect our Mission: (Figure 7)
Goal: Preserve and develop land in the best interest of the environment, the university community, and the citizens of the region.
Recommended Actions:
- Identify, prioritize, fund, and implement key environmental, open space, and landscape projects as a critical part of the campus infrastructure.
- Support development of the Route 1 Corridor and the East Campus "Town Commons" in ways that link them to the university’s mission and community.
- Support development of the College Park Metro site as a center for high tech/science organizations and businesses.
- Acquire and develop extension, research, and training facilities at selected locations throughout Maryland, as required to support the university’s outreach initiatives.
- Acquire in-parcels and other immediately adjacent properties as appropriate to establish a clear and attractive edge for the campus.
Goal: Recognize and carefully assess the intrinsic natural value, the pedagogical value, and the commercial economic value of university land.
Recommended Actions:
- Use the land as an environmental asset in education and research.
- Implement historical preservation policies to determine use of land.
- Develop a strategy for land use that shows respect for local and regional natural systems of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed and enhances Smart Growth principles and projects.
|
