Pedestrian walkway honored for excellence by national engineering council

The Richland Avenue Pedestrian Passageway was recognized earlier this year for its excellence in making Ohio University's campus safer by the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC). The ACEC presented the engineering firm of Burgess & Niple, along with the city of Athens and Ohio University, with an Engineering Excellence award for the project.

The pedestrian walkway, completed in the fall of 2020, elevated Richland Avenue so that pedestrians could safely walk underneath the roadway in a well-lit and wide walkway. The passageway connects Ohio University’s West Green and South Green.

Previously, pedestrians used the Richland Avenue crosswalk at that location to travel between the greens. Studies showed that 6,500 pedestrians would cross that section of the busy roadway each day, with nearly 600 pedestrians crossing during peak hours.

The number of pedestrians crossing in that section of the road created safety issues and also traffic congestion that would back up traffic on Richland Avenue.

“The award recognizes that this was an innovative solution to a long-term problem,” said Athens City Service-Safety Director Andy Strone. “It had been a problem for as long as I have worked for the city and for decades before that. We had a great partnership with Ohio University. The University owned land that was needed for the pedestrian walkway and also provided a portion of the funding to support the project.”

Burgess & Niple created an innovative design for the walkway, Stone added.

“It is something that everyone can be proud of,” he said. The walkway even has the city and University seals on the walls to show the evidence of the partnership.

Shawna Wolfe, associate vice president for university planning at Ohio University, said that University and city officials worked together for several years on the planning and construction of the project. The pedestrian walkway is much safer and is used consistently by students, faculty and staff, as well as by area residents and campus visitors.

“I see it heavily used every time I am on campus,” Wolfe said. "The pedestrian walkway is also very visually appealing, especially with the lighting and the wide vista to see through to campus greens. Often when I go through that area, I see people taking pictures."

She was pleased that the project received such a highly regarded recognition from the American Council of Engineering Companies and is grateful to the city for their work to receive a grant and to Ohio University's investment as well that made the project possible.

Stone said that city officials were also grateful for the recognition. Numerous city and University personnel were involved in the work on the project. Assistant City Engineer Jessica Adine played a key role as the project manager, Stone added.

“This is just one more example of the city and the University working together to solve a mutual problem,” Stone said. “The partnership with Ohio University, in my view, is better than ever.”