To the editor:

Your article on campus construction ("FAQ: How a busy construction season, from Thurston bridge to Hoy garage, will affect traffic and parking on campus," March 16 Chronicle) was useful. However, it focused mainly on the impact of the Thurston Avenue bridge. It does not really address the fundamental question on everyone's mind: Exactly what does the university intend to do to mitigate the impact of these projects on campus parking?

In addition to closing portions of Hoy garage for an extended period, the campus administration has decided to simultaneously and permanently remove a large number of parking spaces in the area of Bailey and Teagle halls. Many more spots have already been lost for the foreseeable future due to the construction of LSTB (Life Sciences Technology Building). Exactly how are faculty and staff expected to get to work? People with kids, elderly family members and other responsibilities require their cars to be within a reasonable walking distance of the workplace. For many, walking, biking or taking the bus is simply not a viable or attractive option. Ithaca is located in the middle of nowhere and not subject to a particular lack of open space. While I certainly do not condone rampant paving of green space, the university administration must consider and maintain a proper balance with the needs of the people who actually make this place run.

It is already difficult and expensive to park on campus. Thoughtless decision-making is guaranteed to make the problem worse. No compelling argument has been made for undertaking all of these projects at once. No one seems to have considered how to handle the inevitable shortage of parking that will occur as a result. The callous decision to close the "J" lot for the Bailey Hall pedestrian plaza seems especially heavy handed, being made without consultation of those who would experience the greatest inconvenience. The decision is actually a bit ironic, given the enormous rancor the university recently created by paving over Redbud Woods for a student parking lot neither needed nor especially wanted, judging from the number of students protesting and chained to trees.

The proposed pedestrian plaza at Bailey Hall, a building that can really only be seen from Garden Avenue, is a uniquely poor use of existing space. The parking that it will replace is not only needed, but in need of expansion. Sensible alternative designs that would mitigate the impact on faculty and staff parking have been dismissed without rational explanation. For example, the proposed plaza could just as easily be stopped near the current construction line, maintaining most of the parking that exists now. "J" lot could be easily redesigned to increase pedestrian safety and also greatly improve its appearance (e.g., adding trees, sidewalks or painted crosswalks, removing crumbling concrete and rusty railings, putting in bricked pavement, etc.). Why is this not a viable option?

Perhaps design modifications would have been considered more seriously if the proposed plaza instead involved removing the parking lot adjacent to Day Hall. In fact, this outstanding alternative is something that I would like to ask the entire university community to weigh in on. Unlike the proposed Bailey Hall plaza, the intersection of East Avenue and Tower Avenue with the entrance to the Day Hall parking lot experiences a constant, high daily volume of pedestrian, car and bus traffic. Removing the Day Hall parking lot would significantly increase the safety for all travelers in this area. In addition, the clock tower is highly visible from many places on campus and, in comparison to Bailey Hall, carries far greater importance to the identity of Cornell University. Think of it: a pedestrian mall allowing people to wander freely in the visible heart of campus, where one can longingly gaze at the clock tower and A.D. White House. What a sensible and wonderful use of this space! Plus, there is an added benefit for those directly impacted by the loss of the Day Hall parking lot: a TCAT bus stop conveniently located right outside the door.

-- Robert Strawderman, professor of statistics