Changes for S.Kilgo, Mizell Bridge

By Michael Terrazas mterraz@emory.edu

Over Labor Day weekend, Facilities Management will restripe South Kilgo Circle near the Carlos Museum, making the stretch of road two-way and reversing the flow of traffic across Mizell Bridge, according to construction manager David Horne.

The reason for the project, Horne said, is a recent structural study revealed that the bridge, which dates to the 1920s, has experienced continued deterioration and no longer is safe for vehicles over 4 tons. Since trucks must be able to reach the museum’s loading dock, and the only alternative was to do reinforcements to the bridge itself, funding considerations dictated the restriping of South Kilgo.

Presently a one-way thoroughfare from the Rich Building to the museum, Mizell Bridge will remain one-way but in the other direction. A turnaround will be fashioned near the museum loading dock.

The move will eliminate the street-parking spaces along South Kilgo bordering the Baker Woodlands; the spaces closest to the Quadrangle will remain, and some will be reclassified to accommodate the carpool spaces that will be lost on the other side of the road. Horne said signage in the area will be reconfigured to inform drivers of the changes.

Hector Morales, capital program manager for FM, said more changes may be in store for Mizell Bridge, but funding availability will dictate what those changes are. The bridge could be reinforced to make it safe for heavier vehicles, or it could be converted to a pedestrian-only walkway.

Elsewhere around the central campus, Morales said the Science 2000–Phase II and performing arts center projects have completed the work that affects vehicular traffic adjacent to those sites. Morales added that, after being closed all summer, the pedestrian walkway from the Rollins Research Building across the bridge over the railroad tracks was to reopen this past weekend, and an Open Space project near Longstreet Hall and behind the Dobbs Center should be completed within a week or two.

Morales said he does not expect any other capital projects on the central campus to affect vehicular or pedestrian traffic.