Starting this summer, cars and Huskie Buses no longer will be able to pull directly in front of DuSable, Gabel and Reavis halls for drop-offs and pick-ups.

About 1,500 linear feet of University Circle Drive will be eliminated as part of a $1 million construction project set to begin in May. A new bus turnaround will be constructed near the current half-way point of the drive, adjacent to the south end of the Chick Evans Field House parking lot.

“Part of this is to reduce the pedestrian and vehicular conflict in the area,” said Patricia Perkins, assistant to the vice president of Finance and Facilities. “The secondary benefit is that it will enhance [the] campus environment.”

Because University Circle Drive becomes clogged with cars, buses and pedestrians at times throughout the day, Perkins said the reconstruction will make it safer for students to navigate between academic buildings.

NIU also is exploring the option of allowing only Huskie Buses into the new turnaround.

Bob Albanese, associate vice president of Finance and Facilities, said he envisions installing gates that open by transponders located on buses and service vehicles.

“If you’re ever by DuSable when class breaks, it’s not a good situation,” Albanese said. “I’d like to eliminate that by not letting cars back where we’re going to have the new bus turnaround.”

Though Albanese said NIU still is looking for alternatives, he said a possibility would be to allow space for a student dropoff point at the Chick Evans Field House parking lot. The fieldhouse currently is undergoing renovations to be converted into a second recreation center. Albanese said he expects the fieldhouse to open as early as June.

Perkins said NIU doesn’t predict any significant congestion in the new turnaround area or on Lucinda Avenue after the new configuration is in place.

With the bus turnaround significantly farther away from academic buildings than it is now, NIU plans to install at least two bus shelters for students to utilize during inclement weather.

In place of the existing roadway, NIU will create a mall-style setting with widened sidewalks, benches and bushes, much like that of the recently constructed Cole Hall plaza.

Parking spaces for drivers with disabilities that were located outside Reavis Hall will be relocated to lots adjacent to the academic buildings and to a new parking lot behind Watson Hall.

During this summer’s construction, fences will be installed to prohibit pedestrian and vehicular traffic. For the most part, the parking lot adjacent to the field house will remain unaffected by the reconfiguration.

The idea for the project has been in the works for years, but it wasn’t able to happen until NIU could secure funds from the Capital Development Board, Perkins said.

“We’re trying to limit the amount of traffic because we have way too many people … clogging up traffic,” Albanese said.

Although construction in the area will be heavy over the summer, Albanese said he doesn’t believe DuSable Hall will be closed. Last summer, DuSable Hall was closed to help the university save money. Classes were diverted to other academic buildings.

“Classes either will be very limited or not at all in DuSable,” he said. “That does not mean the rest of the building won’t be operational.”

Perkins said the project should be substantially completed by fall. She also said she hopes Altgeld Hall will be ready to reopen and occupy sometime over the summer.