Hawkins Drive Improvement
Investigate the concept of realigning Hawkins Drive to a more southerly edge of campus route and redefining the former
alignment area to a pedestrian-oriented open space. Include all stakeholders in a process to determine the issues
involved. Issues must be satisfactorily resolved before the concept is incorporated into the plan.
There is an opportunity on the West Campus to address a potential long range change that could enhance vehicle movement,
consolidate open space, add continuity to the pedestrian system, and create potential building sites. It is an
opportunity that embraces the core concepts of the Sesquicentennial Campus Planning Framework Plan, particularly the
"pedestrian-oriented campus" concept and minimization of vehicular intrusion while maintaining service, emergency, and
other critical access. It is an opportunity that merits further research to maximize the potential benefits and address
the many concerns that naturally arise with the potential of change. Stakeholders in the potential rerouting should help
define the issues involved and resolution of those issues before the concept is incorporated into the plan.
The proposed change removes Hawkins Drive from the center of West Campus, realigns Hawkins to a more southerly edge of
campus route, and alters the central area to a pedestrian-oriented open space with new building sites along the edges of
the pedestrian space. Hawkins Drive would connect at the existing US 6 intersection, follow the current route around the
20 acre wooded hilltop, align south of the electric sub-station and field hockey field, connect through Parking Lot 43
south of the Recreation Building and intersect with Melrose Avenue south of Kinnick Stadium. It also would connect to
existing parking west of Carver-Hawkeye, Area Commuter Lot 75, and remaining revised parking in Lot 43. The existing
Hawkins Drive/Melrose Avenue intersection would also remain to provide vehicular access to the three Hospital ramps
currently approached from this intersection.
New pedestrian-oriented spaces would connect Carver-Hawkeye, Dental Science, Hospital School, and the pedestrian system
within the proposed Health Science Campus and would eliminate vehicular conflicts. The change would eliminate vehicular
conflicts, provide new building sites and parking facilities along the edges of the pedestrian space, consolidate a number
of underutilized and inaccessible open spaces, provide game-day pedestrian access and activity spaces around Kinnick while
maintaining needed vehicular access to the stadium, and improve pedestrian safety while maintaining service and emergency
access.
There are many issues to be addressed. Costs, budget, environmental impact, and timing are always concerns. The
opportunity, however, should be addressed (See Map
16).
West Campus Loop Road
Review the existing West Campus loop road system that includes a portion of Highway 6 and Melrose Avenue that are not
within the boundaries of the campus.
The non-University owned streets are an integral part of the West Campus loop road system and it may be a concern that
these vehicular routes are not University controlled. If it is a problem, solutions should be pursued. Potential
solutions include:
- Acquire as much of the loop road as possible.
- Define another route on existing or proposed streets within campus boundaries.
Functional Area Recommendations
Identify specific recommendations for each campus functional area.
To facilitate specific project planning, the 1990 Campus Planning Framework divided the campus (actually the East Campus
and most of the West Campus) into seven functional areas based on the 1978 "Lindberg Report" (As noted in the 1990 plan,
the Lindberg Report was the first documented "campus plan" that incorporated the concept of "an incremental plan that was
flexible enough to be responsive to newly-developing needs but achieved and maintained cohesiveness by working within
several components of a framework that could be developed and applied over extended periods of time.") The 1990 Framework
divided the areas "according to functional and programmatic interdependencies, adjacencies and compatibility." The seven
areas were:
Old Capitol Area
University Service Area
East and West Residence Halls
Iowa Center for the Arts and the International Center
Health Center Campus
South Melrose Area
Sports Area
The Far West Campus and Oakdale functional areas have been added since the 1990 Framework.
The following report section identifies specific recommendations based on existing conditions, existing plans, suggestions
and requests from staff, faculty, students, and the public for the various functional areas identified in the Lindberg
Report and the 1990 Framework Plan with a few modifications. First, the "East and West Residence Halls Functional Area"
is divided into two separate areas based on the knowledge that although uses are similar, the two areas are on opposite
sides of the Iowa River and in dramatically different surroundings. Second, the Far West Campus and Oakdale Functional
Areas are included in the recommendations. This results in ten functional areas:
East Campus Functional Areas
Old Capitol Area
University Services Area
East Residence Halls
West Campus Functional Areas
Iowa Center for the Arts and the International Center
Health Sciences/Hospital (Formerly known as Health Center Campus Functional Area)
West Residence Halls
South Melrose Area
Sports Area
Other Functional Areas
Far West Campus Area
Oakdale Campus Area
Several campus areas are not within the 1990 functional area boundaries. This may be because of campus boundary changes,
a lack of precision in mapping boundaries, or simple oversight. Whatever the reason, all areas within the campus boundary
should be within an existing or future functional area. Boundaries of several functional areas, therefore, have been
revised to include the non-included areas (See Maps
1 & 2).
Revisions to the 1990 functional areas now include:
- The President's Residence, the wooded area and shoreline between President's Residence and the Iowa River, and the
Dey House have been added to the Old Capitol Functional Area.
- The area along Park Road west of Riverside Drive and the Iowa Center for the Arts has been added to Iowa Center for
the Arts and the International Center Functional Area.
- The wooded ravine north of the Quadrangle has been added to the Old Capitol Functional Area.
- The parking lot along the edge of the wooded ravine north of the Quadrangle has been added to West Residence Halls.
- The west shoreline area of the river between Myrtle Avenue and the CRANDIC bridge over Riverside Drive has been
added to three functional areas. The shoreline south of Burlington added to the South Melrose Functional Area, the
shoreline between Iowa Avenue and Burlington added to the Old Capitol Functional Area, and the shoreline north of Iowa
Avenue and south of the CRANDIC bridge added to the Iowa Center for the Arts and the International Center Functional
Area.
- Some of the areas south and east of the University Services Functional Area have been added to the University
Services Functional Area.
- There are several off-campus buildings east and south of the University Services Functional Area that are not part
of the Framework Plan due to their separation from the main campus. Since they are small enclaves surrounded by Iowa
City, their planning and development should be specific to their individual location.
- The west boundary of the Sports area is vague and is shown differently on different maps. The entire sports
complex west of Hawkins Drive and south of Highway 6, and Finkbine golf course have not been shown on previous
functional area maps. Some maps identify the sports complex in the West Campus, not in the Far West Campus, and since
functional area maps tend to stop near Carver-Hawkeye Basketball Arena, this leaves the sports complex between
functional areas. The Sports Functional Area has been expanded to include the twenty acre wooded slope west of Carver
Hawkeye, the lower Finkbine athletic fields, and Finkbine Golf Course, and all have been added to the West Campus Area.
- The Consolidated Business Services Building and ten acre site across Old Highway 218 from the Municipal Airport
should undergo a planning process to determine appropriate use of the site. When completed, recommendations should be
added to the Campus Planning Framework.
- The Health Center Campus Functional Area name has been changed to Health Sciences/Hospital Functional Area.
- Minor adjustments have been made to many functional area boundaries to make them more closely align with campus
boundaries.