Trial run for new trail
By Elizabeth Jensen
Nov. 8, 2005 9:00 p.m.
Soon, students running the perimeter trail around the edge of
campus after dark may be taking a new route.
There have been concerns in the past about safety and lighting
along the trail, which is a popular running route for students.
Concerns about lighting have been especially strong for the stretch
that runs along Sunset Boulevard and Veteran Avenue.
In response to these concerns, the Undergraduate Students
Association Council Facilities Commission and UCLA Recreation are
seeking to establish a new nighttime route that will mimic the
current perimeter trail, but will be located inside campus. The new
route will run along Charles E. Young Drive and De Neve Drive
instead of Sunset and Veteran.
The biggest obstacle to improving the nighttime safety of the
current trail is lighting along Sunset and Veteran. To add lights
along that route, USAC would have to complete environmental impact
reports and negotiate with the Homeowners Association in Bel Air
about potential light pollution problems, said Megan Gorman, chief
of staff for USAC Facilities Commissioner Joe Vardner.
The process of getting approval from the city to install new
lighting could take months or years, Vardner said.
Instead of engaging in the lengthy approval process, USAC has
chosen an alternate route for nighttime runs.
“The reason that the new route was chosen is that it
already has lighting on it,” Vardner said.
Additionally, the nighttime campus shuttle runs along nearly
half the proposed new route, further ensuring security for
nighttime runners, Vardner added.
The two routes are almost identical in length: The old perimeter
trail ran for 3.9 miles, whereas the new proposed route will run
for 3.5 miles.
Furthermore, the new route will include signs at Drake Stadium
and the Intramural Field, allowing runners to see how far they have
run.
The idea to improve the perimeter trail was proposed last year,
when former USAC Facilities Commissioner Pavan Tripathi brought
forward plans to address concerns about safety issues raised by
those running the perimeter after 10 p.m.
“The original plan was to install lights along Veteran and
parts of Sunset that weren’t well-lit,” Tripathi
said.
Once it became clear how difficult the process of installing
lights would be, the plan shifted its focus.
“We started … drawing paths throughout campus that would
provide the same type of trail as the perimeter, but already
lit,” Tripathi said.
Supporters are just beginning to apply for funds, and they
recently put in a bid for Project Review Group funding, seeking
money to install mileage markers, direction markers and campus maps
with the run delineated, said Rich Mylin, associate director of
event and facilities operation at the UCLA Department of Cultural
and Recreational Affairs.
The next Project Review Group meeting will not be held until
late fall quarter. After the meeting, the plan will have to wait
for further approval from the UCLA Student Fee Advisory Committee
and the Chancellor’s Office.
“We hope work will start sometime in the winter quarter,
after the holiday,” Mylin said. “The plan is
preliminary right now, but it is one of the things on our
slate.”
While the official improvements await approval, the new route is
already available for runners concerned about nighttime safety.
“Right now, we pretty much have the trail planned,”
Gorman said. “The Bruin Runners have run the trail and
approved of it.”
