Liberty University, seeking to set the course of development on campus over the next several years, brings its master plan before City Council — and the public — this week.
The plan maps out new dormitories, recreation facilities and transportation improvements for the school as it works to hit an enrollment of 15,000 within the next five years. It is the subject of a public hearing before City Council on Tuesday.
LU has asked the city for a 237-acre rezoning that will allow it to expand along the base of Candlers Mountain. The city also would have to issue the school a new conditional land-use permit. The current permit, approved in 2003, limits LU to 10,000 students, which it exceeded in the 2007-08 school year.
The plan, presented to City Council and recommended by the planning commission, represents months of consultation between LU and city planning staffers.
The university’s plan seeks to both improve school roads and decrease the number of people driving onto campus, but it cannot be expected to solve the larger congestion problems within the Wards Road area.
The school can only be required to address the direct impacts of its expansion.
Neither city nor state officials have announced any major road improvements to Wards Road, U.S. 460 or Candlers Mountain Road, the arteries surrounding LU. Financial limitations at both levels of government have stalled any desired projects. Practical constraints also are an issue with streets such as Wards Road, where the heavy development has left no room to add on new lanes of traffic.
Beaumont described the concept as “pumping less water” rather than building bigger pipes.
LU plans to aggressively expand its campus bus system and establish carpools and park-and-ride lots. It will also build new pedestrian/bicycling trails. Construction of a vehicular tunnel leading to Wards Road is also expected to improve traffic flow.
With local and state government unable to make a major investment in the public roads, though, increased traffic congestion can still be expected.
How will the proposed expansion impact the environment?
A study commissioned by LU concluded the new construction would impact 0.5 acres of wetlands and 1,100 feet of streams.
LU officials have said those all are “poor-quality streams” and other improvements will be made to compensate for a net benefit to the watershed.
State and federal law dictates how the university must approach this issue and outlines requirements for damage mitigation.
LU officials have worked to minimize environmental impact, and add the plans have received positive reviews from the state Department of Environmental Quality.
LU said it would attempt to make all improvements locally when possible.
LU’s proposal comes with more than a dozen conditions requiring upgrades to its roads, public transit and pedestrian/bicycling systems.
The improvements — which were recommended in a lengthy traffic study commissioned by the school and attached to the request by city staff — would be built and paid for almost entirely by LU. The city intends to partner with the school on one project: the addition of three pedestrian crosswalks on campus.
The exact nature of that partnership has not yet been settled, but city officials expect any cost to the public will be small. Larger projects, such as the vehicular tunnel, will be paid for by LU, according to city officials.
The city also could end up sharing the cost of any new water and sewer infrastructure required as the school grows. Further study on that is needed before a final plan can be made.