Despite the recent completion of the new perimeter road, students, faculty and staff should expect the traditional rush of traffic during the first few weeks of school.

Though the unfamiliar road might add to drivers' frustrations during the busiest traffic days of the semester, the new road shouldn't get all of the blame, said Howard Harris, Vice President of Facilities Management.

"Traditionally, with the first couple of weeks of classes students will experience a back-up in traffic," Harris said, adding that traffic should improve since of the part of the construction affecting traffic was completed.

For the last four semesters, CSUS students, faculty and staff have been subjected a cycle of campus construction projects.

The road on the east side of campus was significantly widened to include two lanes of traffic in each direction. Traffic lights have been installed at the University's rear entrance from College Town Drive and at the J Street entrance.

Despite these improvements, University Traffic and Parking placed traffic directors at all major intersections Monday and Tuesday to direct traffic, overriding the new signals and stop signs.

Construction of the perimeter road commenced during last winter's recess. The groundbreaking of the Perimeter Road Safety Improvements Project immediately followed the completion of the University Union reconstruction.

The first phase of the construction consisted of moving temporary buildings RR, SS and ZZ to an adjacent site. Both pedestrian and automobile traffic were re-routed to accommodate the construction.

Construction of a pedestrian overpass, designed to segregate pedestrian and automobile traffic took place in late January. The construction of the overpass called for the demolition of the former ramp and bike compound at the ramp's base.

Harris has consistently ensured a smooth transition. Now that the road is finished, he says he doesn't expect the changes made to the road to cause additional delays. The new perimeter road has many advantages compared to a few disadvantages caused by the construction of the road, he said.

Many students are concerned about the affect construction has had on parking. According to Harris, due to the addition of parking spaces, the construction of the new road has caused no net loss in parking spaces.

In addition to the changes being made by Facilities Management, Campus Police are making some improvements of their own on the new road. Campus police have been observed recently stepping-up their enforcement of the speed limits on campus roads.

According to John Hamrick from CSUS Police, 2 extra officers were assigned Aug. 20 to Sept. 4 to traffic control, concentrating on the north and east sides of campus.

"Those officers have made 161 traffic stops as of Monday," Hamrick said. "Only about 10 percent of those stops ended in a citation. Many of the stops were for failure to yield to traffic or pedestrians or for running stop signs."

Students, faculty and staff were sent a route map before classes began. The maps are intended to assist with a safe and trouble free transition.

Anyone wanting to obtain a route map outlining all of the routes on to and leaving campus, can call the Facilities Management office at 278-6241 between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.