G ROUP Pedestrian Circulation System Background Pedestrian circulation was identified in the 1993 Master Plan as one of the components most in need of improvement to provide visitors, prospective and enrolled students, and faculty and staff with an improved sense of orientation. Visitors to the UMass Robsham Visitors Center receive a campus map locating buildings, but many find locating the Campus Center, Admissions Office and other buildings difficult since clearly marked pedestrian and vehicular routes are not identified on the campus map.
Visitors also complain about the lack of directional signs within the campus core.
The current experience of walking across the UMass campus consists of navigating a maze of disconnected paths, many in disrepair, while dodging service and maintenance vehicles that use the same pedestrian paths as delivery routes. The major north-south corridor which passes in front of the library narrows and jogs before linking with the Student Union. Where major paths do intersect, there are no clearly defined meeting or gathering areas. When the W.E.B. DuBois Library was built, a number of construction paths were paved between the Student Union and the Fine Arts Center, duplicating traffic flow and adding to the confusion of paths. A similar situation occurs on the north east side of the Campus Center, between Goessmann and Hasbrouck, where a maze of paths criss-cross the area.