Meeting with Cold Climate Housing Research Center (CCHRC)

Since staff of CCHRC was not able to meet during Discovery Week, we met with them this week to discuss campus Trails and Greenways.

Attendees:

Jack Hébert, CCHRC President/CEO

Aaron Cooke, CCHRC Project Manager/Architectural Designer

Corey DiRutigliano, CCHRC Project Manager/Architectural Designer

Jonathan Shambare, UAF Architect and Planner, Facilities Services

Laura Minski, Corvus Design

Opportunities:

• Interpretive walk with signage in wooded area south of CCHRC has been desired for a long time, would be a great benefit to the campus, CCHRC, Sustainable Village, and community.  Suggested theme would cover ‘taiga ecosystem’. 
• Trail materials in this area should tie into the mission and goals of Sustainable Village (low-impact surfacing with chips/elevated surfacing/preserved landscape)
• Harper Building could benefit from better vehicle and pedestrian connections to Sustainable Village, Campus, and future trails in the area
• Ski trails in this area (separate from walking trails) would be well-received
• Visitors to CCHRC are most often Alaskans and more frequent in summer (tours once/week in summer, once/month in winter).  Visitors typically have different goals and desires from those going to Museum or Botanical Gardens.
• Bridges over railroad tracks are best connection to campus, safe and direct (for most uses)
• Stair access on west side of CCHRC from Thompson Drive would be well used (accessible access from Thompson not easily done and probably not a priority)

Trail Conflicts:

• Bike commuting to/from campus is common.  Sheep Creek Road is popular commuting ride for cyclists (no hill to climb from west-east).  This route is very unsafe for cyclists and vehicles due to poor visibility and lack of adequate space for each user.
• Bike parking on bridge/trail just west of CCHRC facility, climb down hill on foot
• Need a better defined route for Sustainable Village residents to main campus (and SRC).  Current stairs are well-used, but there are lots of desire-lines and short-cuts through the woods to get to this access. 
• Access across tracks is a common short-cut, but bridges are safest and should be encouraged
• Common short-cut through Energy Tech Test modules facility site
• Pedestrian (non-motorized) routes at Tanana Loop, Alumni Drive, and South Chandalar Drive are poorly defined

Side notes:

• CCHRC staff’s most frequent destinations on UAF campus include SRC (daily), lectures at Arctic Health Building on West Ridge, and Wood Center.
• Vehicle access to CCHRC – cars travel too quickly around corner