If you have been walking around campus lately, you have probably seen at least one part of campus under construction. While for some, it might not be a big deal, for many students it has impacted their school year, and commute to campus.
While it is good that the University of Idaho are doing improvements to continue building up our campus, some students feel that the construction was poorly planned. Much of the current construction started towards the end of summer, such as the Campus Drive construction next to the Administration Building.
In an interview with Cameron King, a senior studying International Studies, he said: “When I came back to [UI] after being abroad, I did not expect to come back to the noise, traffic and disturbance that is coming from the construction. And the work itself seems poorly planned because they had all summer to work on these projects.”
On Aug. 26, the University of Idaho sent out an email alerting students that the construction on the perimeter drive entrance would result in total road closure from Aug. 31, 2026 – May 2027. This means that a whole access point to campus, the one closest to Walmart, Winco and other shopping, is going to be unavailable for the entire school year.
Similarly, the Nez Perce Drive reopened to two-way traffic Sept. 3 after construction started April 13, 2026. This section of campus, that includes five Greek houses, was closed from before finals, through Fall Rush resulting in inconvenience to members and potential new members of these houses. And construction will not be finished on this road until the end of September.
Nathan Tinno, a senior studying Business Economics, said: “As a student who lives off campus the construction has been frustrating. All my usual routes to get to classes have been changed and it’s making me have toleave earlier to ensure I make it to class on time. On the other hand, it is nice to see the improvements that are being made. I just wish that the projects could have been finished before school started,” in an interview with the Argonaut.
Students are happy that the university is putting in effort to improve our beautiful campus, they just wish that some of the construction could have been planned better so that it wouldn’t inconvenience students, especially those who are having to commute to campus.
Christopher Sprague can be reached at [email protected]