Stewart Road to remain closed until fall 2012
Repairs to the MU Power Plant shut down the street.
Published Oct. 1, 2010
Stewart Road will be closed between Providence Road and Fourth Street for nearly two years, beginning Oct. 4. Additionally, Stewart Road between Fourth and Fifth streets will be shut down for most of that time.
An e-mail was sent to MU students announcing the road closing.
“Vehicle traffic that normally enters campus on Stewart Road will be re-routed south on Providence to Turner Avenue or north to Elm Street,” the e-mail stated. “Pedestrians and bicyclists will be re-routed through parking lots RC16 and RC 15, on the south side of Stewart between Providence and Fifth Street.”
The e-mail also stated the road closing is to ensure the safety of pedestrians, and vehicle traffic will be re-directed north and south around the closure.
“Workers will replace a coal-fired boiler with a 100 percent biomass boiler and perform other maintenance at the University of Missouri Power Plant,” the e-mail stated. “The closure will extend east on Stewart Road to Fifth Street later this fall.”
The boiler should be ready for use in late 2012, according to the news release. Lighting will also be installed for a temporary path that will re-route pedestrians and bicyclists.
“Because so many students, faculty and staff walk or ride their bikes to campus from west Stewart Road, we wanted to make sure that we could re-route them along an alternate and safe path,” Associate Vice Chancellor for Facilities Gary Ward said in the news release.
In another project, a protective coating will be applied to the exterior of the north and south chimneys, according to the release.
“The chimneys were built in 1980 and 1981 and have sustained damage from repeated freezing and thawing,” the news release stated. “As moisture gets into the cracks and freezes, it expands. The expansion causes pieces of concrete to loosen, a process known as spalling.”
MU has been producing heat and electricity using a Combined Heat and Power system, which reduces CO2 emissions by an estimated 107,000 tons per year, according to the news release. That is equivalent to the annual emissions from more than 17,900 passenger vehicles.
“MU is recognized nationally as a leader in energy efficiency and conservation, reducing energy usage by 13 percent per square foot and greenhouse gas emissions by 39 percent per square foot since 1990,” the news release stated. “The 20-year emphasis on energy conservation has resulted in a current annual savings of $6.8 million.”