Begun in earnest earlier this summer, the project to reroute Fishburne Drive between the Rich Building and Woodruff Library will be nearing completion when Emory opens for fall classes later this week.

The road will be open to traffic in both directions, but pedestrians will only be able to walk on the north side of the street until the south sidewalk is completed later in the semester. Some landscaping will be necessary as well, which may close some other sidewalks in the area, but those closings would be short term and wouldn’t seriously impede access.

“We may still be doing work south of the library when classes start,” said project manager Al Herzog. “But they are areas that are not heavily traveled.” Herzog added that crews have been putting in seven-day weeks to complete the road construction.

Fishburne was rerouted from one side of the Rich Building to the other to accommodate the business school’s upcoming expansion, due to break ground in spring 2004.

In addition to the main Fishburne Drive construction, Asbury Circle has been resurfaced, and faculty who have been away from campus over the summer will notice that the renovation of Candler Library is complete, the area is free of fencing and the grounds newly refurbished.

More construction is taking place on the other side of campus, at the CDC across from the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing. Georgia Power is installing an underground electrical conduit along Houston Mill Road south of Clifton Road, the intersection of Houston Mill and Clifton is being improved, and the CDC is working on streetscape upgrades.

“When everything gets done, it will improve the area’s appearance dramatically and make it more pedestrian friendly,” said CDC project manager Greg Rosser, adding that the CDC and Emory are collaborating on the work.

Once the project is complete in January, the CDC grounds facing Houston Mill will include additional lighting, upgraded security fencing and a wall adjacent to a new sidewalk. The upgrades not only enhance security (as mandated at the CDC following 9/11), but also improve the aesthetics of the area greatly and help traffic flow.

Right now the area is fenced off, so it hasn’t caused many problems. However, some lane closings on southbound Houston Mill may be necessary in early October as Georgia Power removes overhead power lines and poles, and construction crews repave and stripe the road. Most of the roadwork has been done at night to minimize its effects.

Rosser said the CDC is awaiting federal funding to improve its streetscape facing Clifton. Since Sept. 11, concrete barriers have been the norm—an upgrade in security, but not exactly pleasing to the eye.

Should funding be approved, the streetscape work along Clifton would entail the addition of iron fencing and better sidewalks, which would blend in with the work being completed near Houston Mill.