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Council approves Ross Avenue abandonment to McMurray University for campus safety and expansion
Summary
Council granted McMurray University's request to abandon portions of Ross Avenue so the university can convert the area to athletic practice fields and reduce on-campus pedestrian crossings, with staff conditions for emergency access and drainage easements.
City planning staff presented a request from McMurray University to abandon segments of Ross Avenue and a portion of South 16th Street so the university may reconfigure the area for a practice field and improve student safety. Tim Littlejohn, director of Planning and Development Services, told council the request met the land-development code criteria, Planning & Zoning recommended approval with easement requirements, and staff had received one letter in favor and no letters in opposition.
Grant Greenwood, vice president and chief operations officer for McMurray University, said the abandonment aims to reduce pedestrian exposure across Ross and to consolidate campus activity. “This is an effort to improve safety on our campus,” Greenwood said, describing a master-plan approach and referencing similar abandonments granted previously to local universities. Residents and the project architect raised traffic-diversion concerns and asked that traffic mitigation and public notice be clarified; the council voted to approve the abandonment with the staff-recommended easement conditions and a recorded vote showing one council 'no.'
