Although we have seen occasional sunshine and warmer temperatures from the weather these past few weeks, suggesting nicer days to come, the road conditions around campus have been getting continuously worse. Particularly, I have noticed the growing potholes in various campus parking lots, including BARH, RAHPs, Stacwyck, and West Hall. One or two here or there is acceptable, but the large, increasing number of them is disturbing.
I first started noticing the potholes about two weeks ago in the BARH parking lot when I was driving to and from campus on weekends when shuttles were not running. At first, there was only one in the main entrance of the BARH lot, and a smaller one on the way out of the lot near RAHPs. However, in the past week or so, the number has significantly increased to almost eight or nine in one turn of the lot, specifically by the C-wing of BARH. This concerns me because I frequently walk that way to catch the shuttles, as do many other students, and have tripped into them on occasion. I have also witnessed peers nearly twist their ankles in the West Hall lot walking to class. Similar situations have been sighted in the Stacwyck lots.
Another concern of mine is for students who have low cars; they have the potential to bottom-out due to the deepness of these potholes. These cars could potentially get stuck, creating havoc for other vehicles that need to get through. Some students bring back motorcycles after spring break, and hitting of these potholes could get somebody seriously hurt. The blame for this would be placed directly on RPI.
I think RPI would want to take precautions to avoid these stressful situations. Therefore, I suggest filling in the potholes while students are absent for spring break this upcoming week. This seems practical because RPI would not have to find alternate areas for students to park while this construction takes place.
So be on the lookout for these large craters in the macadam. Don’t trip and hurt yourself as you walk to class this week, and hope that they’ll be only minimal ditches by the time you come back from your relaxation on spring break.
