Roberts St., on the UTRGV Edinburg campus, will open in early November.
The street was closed late August by Facilities and Operations for the construction of the team based learning center for the school of medicine.
Director of Facility Planning and Management for the School of Medicine, Agustin Rodriguez explains why the street is closed.
“The purpose of the closing of the drive was [that] the new building required some chilled water lines that come from our plant. So, there are some new pipes that are going to be inlayed in the street. To be able to service the building.”
Rodriguez says they used larger pipelines to leave the possibility for a future building located south of the current construction site.
Psychology Junior, Alexis Olivares tells UTRGV Radio how the closed road has affected her.
“It’s an inconvenience for me, getting dropped off, because that was like a go to street to my building. And now we have to go through Sugar [Road], hit the light and then turn in. Even when it’s possible because people don’t stop.”
Rodriguez explains the efforts being taken to protect students and staff that commute through the construction areas.
“We do have, on a weekly basis, we have planning meetings, with the contractor and facilities. Mainly to ensure that we have safety around the construction site.”
With Roberts St. remaining closed until early November, the team based learning center is scheduled to be finished by March, and in use by next fall.
Reporter: Samantha Garza
