UPDATED: Thursday, May 5, 2016 at 6:35 p.m.

More than 90 Syracuse University faculty members have signed an online public petition expressing concern about the proposed University Place promenade slated to be built this summer.

As of 6:30 p.m. Thursday, 95 faculty members signed the petition.

In the petition, the faculty members claim the decision to build the promenade was made with a lack of transparency and without enough input from faculty and staff. They instead recommend that the project be halted and then assessed.

The promenade would make University Place a pedestrian-friendly walkway for students — preventing vehicles from driving there. The Centro bus stops that are currently on University Place in front of Bird Library and the Schine Student Center would be switched to the other side of those buildings on Waverly Avenue.

The faculty members who signed the petition find this aspect of the proposed promenade especially problematic because, they said, Waverly Avenue will see increased traffic both during and after construction, making the road unsafe for students. The petition also says the professors are concerned the “fragile web of water pipes” underneath Waverly Avenue might break with increased traffic and construction.

Moreover, the faculty members say in the petition that the combined construction of the proposed National Veteran Resource Complex and the Promenade on Waverly Avenue will make the area and traffic “intolerable.”

“We are concerned about the cost of this effort, given the many other more important demands on the university’s budget, and that precious resources are being spent on aesthetics with no discernable academic purpose,” the petition states.

The building of the promenade is an initiative under the Campus Framework plan, which is part of Chancellor Kent Syverud’s Fast Forward initiative.

Published on May 4, 2016 at 3:29 pm

Contact Rachel: rsandler@syr.edu