… Summer arrives, one red blink at a time …
Vince Lara-Cinisomo
This U. of I. truth goes out to the year-round faculty and staff, and students who stay for the summer: you just love getting around campus when there’s way fewer drivers, pedestrians, and bikers to demand your life safety-attention, and blinking red stop lights at six campus intersections are calming and meditative because one must stop now to go later.
“A reminder to pause and reflect…”
Bridget Lee-Calfas
About 60,000 teen- and 20-something year olds add to the life and vigor of the Urbana campus, but summer without most of them is a slower time. These streets welcomed the family and friends of thousands of graduates, and the Hot Ones voice of Sean Evans as Commencement speaker, just a few days ago. By move-in week in August, the Urbana campus will welcome new family and friends en masse.
But now, nearing June, close-to-empty morning MTD routes carry fewer passengers. Walkways and bike paths get more action from bugs and wind-blown leaves than pedestrians. It’s about 7 a.m. on the Monday after Commencement and things are about to change around here. A calming feeling that accompanies those blinking red stoplights–until only mid-August–reminds C-U of the inescapable calendar and soothes the mind, anxious for temporary solitude and serenity.
Oh, the red.
Memory and Light and Place and Time
The graduates gone
Amy Clay
No more tests. Flashing lights on.
A sign campus rests.
The blinking red attends to those who stick around Chambana, like a micro-urban, prairie-based lighthouse. To Maddie Rice, now with the university’s office of enrollment management after graduating in 2020, the light change meant freedom and a chance to grow her comfort with the landscape and institution as a ‘townie’ before she even attended or worked for Illinois. A full, bustling campus can bewilder travelers, even long-time locals.
“To a kid growing up in Champaign-Urbana, we were equally allured and intimidated by campus,” said Rice. “The blinking red light was a secret code that the coast was clear. Overnight, the kingdom was empty, completely in tact, and somehow more beautiful than ever. We bought ice cream without supervision and tried the green canopy of the Main Quad on for size, trying to wrap our heads around actually being a part of the emerald city and not just a summer visitor.”
A Big Change, a little switch
High voltage electricians operate university-owned street lighting, pedestrian walkway lighting, and parking lot lighting, in addition to four of the blinking traffic signals at Fourth and Peabody, Fourth and Gregory, Sixth and Gregory, and Sixth and Armory. The others fall under the supervision of the City of Champaign or the City of Urbana.
An access panel at the intersection is opened by key to allow F&S high voltage electricians to simply flip a switch. On this day, Brad Albers and Dan Holstein completed the work in no time, both noting the importance of flipping the switch at the safest moment possible. This is the same panel used by Public Safety and police officers when they manually shift lights in a post-event situation with a sudden overload of folks coming and going, before and after parades, events, and athletics.
“The changing from normal traffic flow to ‘flash’ is a definite sign that summer is here,” said high voltage electricians foreperson Brian Johnson. “No more ‘scramble’ crossings at certain intersections, too. You will notice that it takes a bit for both pedestrians and drivers to get used the change. Always be alert when walking or driving.”
Locations
Fourth Street and Peabody Drive
Fourth Street and Gregory Drive
Fourth Street and Daniel Street
Sixth Street and Gregory Drive
Sixth Street and Armory Avenue
Sixth Street and John Street