East Hall’s Huskies have been making their own path on their migration to and from the nearest dining hall in McNair. Faced with the decision to hop the highway barriers on U.S. 41 or hike out to the Wadsworth crosswalk, many students chose the former. The activity on McNair’s hillside caught the attention of MTU facilities management, spawning a new crosswalk development project that has been in progress for less than a month as of publishing.
Beginning construction on Oct. 10, the project is expected to be accessible by early November, representing a rapid response from facilities. University staff did not foresee the awkwardness of navigating from the new dorm hall to McNair. Dean of Students Laura Bulleit says that the awkwardness of travel between the two locations “was something that we didn’t foresee prior to students moving in. How were they going to navigate from this building to our other buildings on campus?”
President of the East Hall Association, Connor Nunn, identified “trampled down deer paths running up the hill” as the likely instigator for facilities’ involvement in the project. He said, “the quickest way to get from one place to another is a straight line,” finding it natural that students would avoid traveling the unnecessary distance for the legal path. However, Nunn says that Housing asked East Hall to crack down on students crossing illegally. “It’s a legal issue and a safety issue.”
East Hall students will be treated to a path of least resistance from their front lobby to the steps of McNair. Convenience aside, students face serious risk by jumping the highway barriers on U.S. 41, and a safe method of access to on-campus dining will be a welcome service for East Hall’s first-ever residents.
