From the Superintendent's Desk

The South Parks Road entrance has re-opened

As many of you may have noticed, the vehicular access to the University Parks via the South Lodge entrance has been closed since 18 October. This was so that work relating to the construction of the new Life and Mind Building could be carried out. The works site was in the pavement directly outside the gate, so there was no way round it. The closure was to last eight weeks.

 This meant that we had to find alternative access at very short notice for staff and vehicles, as well as deliveries, to get into and out of the Parks. The only gate that will allow passage of vehicles is North Lodge. We want to thank all users of the Parks for their patience over the past eight weeks, as we are sure that vehicle use of North Walk has been unwelcome.

The North Lodge gate is, however, too narrow for our largest vehicles, our tractors, and for delivery vehicles. As quickly as possible, we had to find an alternative way to get larger traffic into and out of the Parks. We therefore arranged with the School of Pathology an alternative access through the Science Area and into the Parks, where we removed of some of the fencing near the Medical Sciences Teaching Centre.

The works at South Lodge are now complete, and vehicles should no longer use either the North Lodge entrance or the temporary access through the Science Area. However, we are planning to replace the fence panels with solid gates into the Science Area. This will mean that, if this happens again, it is less expensive and much easier to create a temporary access, and we can, hopefully avoid using the North Lodge entrance again.

We have received several enquiries about vehicles in the Parks over the past few weeks. We do post information on social media, but we appreciate that not everyone uses this for communication. We are planning a new quarterly newsletter with information about what is happening in the University Parks, starting early in 2025.

As well as news items, event information and behind-the-scenes updates on what we are working on, we will publish the opening and closing times for the next quarter. We will also use the newsletter contact list to email emergency news, like the gate closure.  You may like to consider signing up for the newsletter; it is as easy to unsubscribe as to join. Information – and opportunity to sign up – can be found at the Parks Newsletter page on our website. 

The new pedestrian path behind the Hayrick Border will soon be open for use

Earlier this year, the Curators of the University Parks approved a proposal to create a new path for pedestrians from the South Lodge gate to Thorn Walk.

This involves opening a route directly opposite the gate, to join the informal path that runs behind the Hayrick Border northwards along the fence line with the Science Area. A no-dig construction method, with permeable surfacing, is being used to minimise impact on the trees.

No dig construction method

The purpose is to reduce the risk to pedestrians from shared vehicle use. The main vehicle route into the University Parks for deliveries, events traffic and maintenance vehicles for the University Parks and Sports departments is off South Parks Road at South Lodge. This is also the busiest pedestrian route through the Parks. The potential conflicts on this shared route are exacerbated by the use of headphones or mobile phones by pedestrians and joggers. Dogs off leads are an additional problem.

We know the new path will not eliminate these risks completely, but we believe it will do a lot to mitigate them. This is one of several low-impact initiatives that we are working on to make the University Parks safer for everyone. A sign will direct pedestrians to the left and vehicles to the right, as well as indicating the 5mph speed limit at this point in the Parks.

Completion of this work is expected before Christmas.

The location of the new path is shown by the yellow line

And finally…

We wish everyone who visits the Parks a happy, peaceful break over Christmas and New Year.

Please remember that the Parks and Mesopotamia are closed on Christmas Eve as usual, and that the cycle path between South Lodge and Marston is closed on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.