The $1 million DuSable bus turnaround that was intended to reduce traffic and allow the Huskie Buses to stay on schedule actually has done quite the opposite.

In fact, the only change the turnaround has accomplished is to reroute traffic from a road – where traffic normally goes – to an already-crowded parking lot.

Students are now piling up their cars into the Chick Evans Field House parking lot to drop off peers. This not only inconveniences commuter students desperately searching for a spot, but also clutters the aisles for walkers cutting through the lot on their way to class.

Instead of making a safer area for students as intended, the construction serves only to jumble students in further congestion. With so many cars and so little organization, accidents are inevitable.

No matter what NIU tries to do, students are still going to drop off their friends. To them, staying dry and warm and getting to class on time are more important then keeping the road clear for buses that don’t even arrive on time.

Laura Lundelius, acting coordinator of Campus Parking Services, told the Northern Star the construction was designed to make the bus traffic smoother and, more importantly, keep the buses running on schedule.

But as witnessed daily, buses on the same route are lining up outside the shiny new bus shelters at the exact same time. Tuesday afternoon, two No. 5 buses sat bumper to bumper, arriving within seconds of one another. It’s hardly effective to run one bus directly behind another – especially when one is jam-packed with students and the other is left practically empty.

Furthermore, as mathematics instructor Georgianna Henry pointed out in a letter to the editor published Tuesday, the busiest building on campus has now been made less accessible to students.

There is no longer a direct path to DuSable Hall, causing bus riders and non-bus riders alike to be late to their classes. Not only can students count on the Huskie Buses running behind schedule, but they also can plan to spend an additional three minutes walking the extra block to class.

In short, the only thing the DuSable turnaround has done for students is increase their commute time.