Although many improvements have been made to the Annie Glidden Road and Stadium Drive intersection, there will not be an overpass or underpass put in the intersection any time soon, said Bob Albanese, vice president of Finance and Facilities.

The intersection has had an increase in traffic flow because the old field house is now a recreation center and the DuSable turnaround was reconfigured 30 yards west of where it used to be, Albanese said.

An overpass or underpass was considered as a part of the Annie Glidden Task Force to make the area safer for pedestrians, Albanese said.

However, the overpass could cost up to $10 million to build and it would take many years to acquire city, state and federal funding for the project. The construction would also make the street out of commission for awhile, Albanese said.

Albanese also said at other universities students often don’t use the overpasses.

“Because it isn’t the quickest path from point A to point B students don’t always use them and they’re still darting across the street,” Albanese said.

An overpass or underpass would also have to be handicap accessible, and an underpass might present safety issues for female students, Albanese said.

But, the speed limit has been dropped to 30 m.p.h., and speed timers have been put in to slow down car traffic, which has shown to be helpful so far, Albanese said.

About a year ago, the NIU Department of Public Safety placed two police officers at the intersection to act as crossing guards for the students, DeKalb Police Lt. Matt Kiederlen said.

The police officers have also shown to be effective in slowing traffic on Annie Glidden Road. Conditions for when they might not be needed anymore remain to be seen, Kiederlen said.