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SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY
Master Plans / University Park, Texas Southern Methodist University (SMU) selected DeShazo Group from among several national consultants to provide a traffic access study for the campus, which lies in the city of University Park, Texas. While SMU has been at its present location since 1911, the surrounding residential and commercial community that has developed around it extensively scrutinizes any development on the campus. The impetus for the study was the need to supplement transportation aspects of SMU’s Centennial Master Plan completed in 1997. The scope of the firm's study involved research, traffic data collection, and overall evaluation in order to recommend potential improvements to pedestrian conditions, the roadway system, transit services, bicycle transportation, and wayfinding and signage within the proper historical and political context of the university. Key recommendations made in the study included providing a series of bicycle lanes across the campus, enhancing the campus “ring road” near the football stadium, implementing safety improvements at major pedestrian crossings, using more efficient transit shuttle connections to DART’s Light Rail System, and assessing opportunities to expand the bus staging area during major events on the campus. DeShazo Group is currently providing traffic engineering services on an as-needed basis for the university. |