The University of Maryland is set to have its first stoplight in the campus core this summer at the intersection of Campus Drive and Regents Drive.
This stoplight, which is part of the Purple Line light-rail project, “will help to manage the flow of pedestrians, motorists and future Purple Line light rail vehicles,” according to a statement from the Purple Line on June 13.
The traffic signal was originally scheduled to be operational on or about June 6, but completion has now been delayed for multiple weeks, according to Purple Line communications director Kathryn Lamb.
The Purple Line team is working with the State Highway Administration to get final approvals before the light can be activated, the statement read. The Purple Line is expected to open in late 2027 and the project is 78.6 percent complete, according to the statement.
“Especially with the Purple Line coming in and with some of the traffic patterns on campus changing, it’s a pretty important addition when it comes to safety,” said Joe Diaz, a senior information science major and co-director of the Student Government Association transportation and infrastructure committee.
Diaz added it’s important to balance the safety of pedestrians, micromobility users and drivers to prevent collisions and conflicts. Diaz also hopes the new light will help make traveling on campus faster, he said.
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Sophomore electrical engineering major Shubh Agnihotri, the committee’s other co-director, said he remembers feeling confused about the intersection’s traffic pattern when he first arrived on campus. He described the new traffic signal as “a long time coming.”
Agnihotri added cars are often backed up at Campus Drive because pedestrians have the right of way to cross at the intersection.
Ben Tanowitz, a College Park resident and alum of this university, appreciated that the stoplight’s installation is occurring over the summer and before the Purple Line construction is complete.
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Two additional stoplights are expected to be added on campus in the future, according to this university’s Division of Administration. One will be installed at the intersection of Union Drive and Alumni Drive and the other will be at the newly created intersection of Rossborough Lane and Campus Drive.
Diaz added the SGA transportation and infrastructure committee is working to implement more bike and micromobility infrastructure on campus. The infrastructure would reduce micromobility and car conflicts, as well as create spaces to avoid collisions with pedestrians, he said.
Agnihotri added the committee also focuses on creating safer and more accessible walking space, including new and widened sidewalks.
