The sidewalk in front of Ackland Art Museum is officially back open, producing a general sigh of relief from all who were inconvenienced by the detour over the past few months.
Construction is something all colleges seem to be constantly doing — one of the many lovable annoyances of college that generally make the campus better in the long run.
But the benefits of construction can become temporarily mute when you’re late for class and the quickest path to your building is blocked off. While this type of situation cannot be totally avoided, we propose a non-mandatory text-based messaging system that alerts students which paths are closed and when they will reopen. Think of an Alert Carolina or a traffic alert type of service.
Being able to check your phone and know which areas to avoid before you leave your dorm or house every morning can decrease the negative sides of construction. And a clear alert would help students with injuries or physical disabilities know which ramps or other access points might be temporarily closed for construction.
Granted, it is possible to see where construction is by reading this paper, checking Twitter and by looking at the current projects on the UNC Facilities Services website. We appreciate any efforts to help raise awareness of on-campus construction, but these options may not be the most intuitive places to check while you’re sprinting up MLK on your way to a biology class.
Ultimately, this is an easy fix to not the biggest problem in the world. College is stressful enough, and any effort to decrease the stress on students and faculty should be seen as a step in the right direction.
