Ball State University senior Michelle Ray remembers walking down McKinley Avenue before the final pieces of Shafer Tower even arrived in 2001.
Now, Ray is glad to see that the two-lane avenue that used to wind around Shafer Tower actually hugs the campus’ tallest structure, making it even more of an area highlight worth the $5.5 million renovation.
“Having a road around the bell tower like it was originally supposed to be now makes it more the center of campus instead of having a road stuck on the side,” Ray said.
However, what impresses the fifth-year senior the most about the new McKinley Avenue — complete with a median separating two lanes of traffic, pullover spots for buses and vehicles and a new scramble light at the intersection of Neely and McKinley avenues — are the paved roads.
“It not only feels good when you’re driving, but when you have visitors and you’re pointing things out, you’re not [saying], ‘Oh, pothole,’” Ray said with a laugh.
MITS and Ball State shuttle bus drivers agree that the road’s smooth makeover between Neely and Riverside avenues is much easier on their tires, too.
“Now they just need to get this part fixed,” Jade Cooper, who has been driving the university’s shuttle buses for the past two years, said Monday night as he pulled up to a bus stop along McKinley Avenue near Bethel Avenue. “It gets pretty rugged down here, especially in the winter.”
The improved McKinley Avenue also features more crosswalks, making students more visible to bus drivers, Cooper said.
“It’s easy to see where people are,” he said. “Before, you had people just lined up along the street and cars going around them, and you were afraid someone was going to get hit.”
The pullover spots, which campus shuttles share with MITS buses this year, will take some getting used to, however. To provide room for both vehicles, Cooper said he always tries to pull in as far as he can so that another bus or other vehicles can fit in behind him.
“It seems to work out, and you notice there hasn’t been any traffic backup,” Cooper said. “There’s been a couple times where we’ve had trouble getting back [on the road], but most of the time, the traffic flows right through.”
To junior Summer Seeley, the new pullovers are anything but practical. In fact, Seeley plans to take Tillotson Avenue to the university’s commuter lot near the L.A. Pittenger Student Center each day to avoid the bustle of McKinley Avenue.
“It’s so narrow that you can’t go around everyone, so people still stop to drop off friends ... and traffic is backed up behind it,” Seeley said.
MITS bus driver Corinna Chappell said her biggest concern with the new stops is being able to accommodate people in wheelchairs and others with special accessibility needs.
“You only have so much of a lift to get to the curb, and if you don’t get right in there on a perfect angle, it’s going to be really hard,” Chappell said as she pointed to the curb near the Ball Communication Building.
The new scramble light at Neely and McKinley avenues, however, will make crossing the street safer for students with seeing or hearing problems, Ray, a deaf education and special education major, said. The light features a counter and a beeping noise rather than the chirping noise found at the Scramble Light at Riverside and McKinley avenues.
“I’m not used to that,” Ray said. “Things should chirp. We’re the Cardinals; that’s our trademark.”
Read More
Three Air Jam teams take home the win
October 12, 2012Nineteen teams shimmied, shook and flipped for a sold out John R. Emens Auditorium on Thursday night during the 25th annual Air Jam.
Bill Clinton Speaks at North Central High School
October 12, 2012Former President's Speech Could Have Effect on State Senate Race
