 |
| Construction Site at KU |
University of Kansas is making aggressive investments. There
are multiple construction projects in two academic years (2014 – 2016). I say
these years are “the year of construction.” There are many “road closed” signposts at several campus street corners. The road construction project is the one that causes a temporary bus route change, and my on-campus trail route, too. This is
sometimes disturbing for some people where their regular destination spot is
hilly. They may need to
do a half circular or loop walk up to the hilly terrain. It is good for health though.
But this kind of construction management has never bothered
me when I compare it with what I have seen in other places. The construction working has managed to reduce the level of disturbance
as low as possible. It manages to open alternative walkways for the closed
ones. The temporary ones are paved and fenced to make sure the safety of
passersby even though there are not many in summer. The
most impressing thing is the affected bus routes remain as close as possible to the original bus stops. This should not make students feel disturbed as a little change the construction activity has to cause.
This of course needs a careful project management and monetary cost. But, what
else is more important than people’s live and convenience?
Generally, construction projects in the US do not need a huge manpower to accomplish; technology has taken over most of it. We barely see muscular but skinny men shoveling sands to trucks, carrying rocks, and pouring mix by hands, for example, to a molded sidewalk or road pit. Construction times have been cut half than it used to be. Times saved from such methods are reallocated for careful planning and study. That will result in good quality outcomes. And most importantly, workers are enjoying their job rather than hating it because of too much pressures.
This is not really a novel thing though. It just a real experience that I feel like public interests such as safety and convenience should always be the priority in such a kind of activity. To be honest, I hate road closing thing that usually comes with traffic bottleneck, traffic jam, and traffic route diversion. Some small places usually have little to care about public interest or whatsoever. So having such a good personal experience gives me a hope that my habitat would have more of that good thing to happen in the future.
**Hope this gives you an inspiration
