Sidewalks
While walking around campus, it seemed at first to be that all of the sidewalks were in decent condition. They were level and nonhazardous throughout, but upon entering near the Oval and near South Campus, the sidewalks became extremely uneven, and any pedestrian could easily trip if they are not cautious. The sidewalk was not super cracked or full of gaps. A biker or skateboarder could have trouble riding through these areas though if a tire gets caught on the sidewalk at the wrong angle. In order to improve upon this, OSU could repave the sidewalk to avoid any injuries.
Street width
Due to the use of scooters and bikes on campus, it becomes an issue that the streets on campus do not have separate bike/scooter lanes. If these uses of transportation weren’t so popular, this would not be an issue. Many students tend to ride their bikes and scooters on the sidewalks rather than the road, which adds traffic to sidewalks, as well as lowers the safety of pedestrians. While some bikers and scooter riders do ride in the road, this can cause car traffic to slow. In order to improve upon this, smaller bike/scooter lanes could be implemented. This would relieve traffic on sidewalks as well as streets.
Street safety
OSU has many street lights placed along its roads and sidewalks to provide light for anyone walking on campus at night. There also is a fence and grass median along the sidewalk on Woodruff to provide a space between pedestrians and street traffic. There also are crosswalks at every intersection, as well as many placed along roads to allow for students to cross the streets safely. Some of the intersections even have a speaker by the crosswalks to provide audio to let pedestrians know when it is their turn to cross the street. OSU has done an impeccable job with its street safety.
Traffic flow
Traffic lights allow for traffic on campus to stop and go as pedestrians need to cross, and to keep traffic moving. The bus stops on campus have sidewalks separate from the main sidewalks to allow for those waiting for buses to stay out of walking traffic. OSU has many different traffic flow patterns. There are one-ways as well as two-ways. In some areas, such as behind the Gateway on High St, one-ways can be confusing and can cause a driver to have to go farther away from their destination before they can reach it. The overall speed of the traffic is safe, and the frequent crosswalks keep drivers from speeding too much.
Setbacks
The place in front of the Department of Physics building is underutilized and wasted space. It serves no purpose and adds a large slab of concrete to what could be a useful space. As an alternative, OSU could turn the plaza into a smaller walkway and plant flowers and other vegetation to the surrounding area to enlarge green space. Areas near the Wexner Center are set up in this way as well. There are other areas though where the setbacks are appropriate. Near residential buildings, there are courtyards and green space.
Building Use
OSU does a very good job with its building use. For the most part, the buildings seem to flow from academic use, to residential, to commerce. The dining halls are placed closed to the residential buildings, and the fitness centers are also placed near the dorms. None of the buildings seem to really be out of place, as they all have their own purpose and use on campus for various reasons.
Parking-
Along Tuttle Park Place, there are multiple parking lots and garages that provide adequate parking. On the opposite side of campus though, on the far side of south campus near high, parking is no longer as available. There are less garages, and even less surface parking. This can cause trouble for students, especially those with surface passes, because they cannot park on south campus, and instead have to park on north or west. The surface lots on south are also not entirely paved and many are made of just gravel. This causes there to not be any lines on the ground to form separate parking spaces, and some cars will then make their own spot, taking up two spots instead of one. This further lowers the availability of parking. If more garages are built, students would be able to park closer to their final destinations.
Accessibility
Due to the construction on Cannon Drive, south of John Herrick Drive, the intersection pictured above is not very accessible for pedestrians. This intersection is used heavily by students getting to the med campus, west campus and to the RPAC. Making the walkways more clear, it can be made safer for pedestrians until construction is completed and the sidewalks are open and complete. On Tuttle Park Place as well, there is limited accessibility. The street lights are placed very close to each other that wheelchairs cannot pass by or through them easily. Due to construction along this street as well, warning signs have been placed on sidewalks, increasing the inaccessibility.