Heritage Halls, 450 East and the Cougareat have been under construction since the beginning of the summer. The orange cones, construction workers and blocked roads will be around for the foreseeable future, but administrators say it will not affect Education Week.
BYU Education Week program administrator Bruce Payne said the construction on 450 East and at Heritage Halls will not have much impact Education Week.
He said new shuttle routes have been created for the week to accommodate guests going to and from on-campus housing, classes and other buildings on campus. The main hub will be by the Museum of Art, and Payne said the area is less congested and the shuttle routes will take less travel time, creating more available shuttles.
Because of limited parking and the construction overrunning Provo roads, Payne suggests that guests traveling from farther distances take forms of public transit such as FrontRunner or UVX. He said UVX buses are convenient and come by every six minutes.
“(UVX) is really not that long of a wait,” he said. “It’s comfortable and would be nice if people used it.”
UVX is free, and there are stops just northeast of the Marriot Center and south of the Wilkinson Student Center.
Wilkinson Student Center general manager Chad Brimley talked about CougarEat and BYU Bookstore construction and said the CougarEat dining area will be ready by the Monday of Education Week.
Brimley explained that most of the major construction will be finished — the furniture will be there and most of the new restaurants will be functional — but they are still working on Wendy’s and the connecting space between the BYU Bookstore and the CougarEat.
“The Cougar Eat will be done by Education Week. A lot of the little details won’t be 100%, but it shouldn’t impact the use of the space,” Brimley said. “Wendy’s won’t be up and running until fall semester.”
Brimley said the Cougar Express has been relocated to the northeast end of the CougarEat and the new restaurant Choices will cater to people with food allergy needs. Both will be ready by Education Week.
Payne said the construction may seem like a burden at the moment, but it will be a benefit to BYU and its residents in the end.
“Construction is always hard when you’re in the middle of it, but it’s always better when you’re done,” Payne said. “It’s always good to have a positive attitude because things are better afterward.”
