Author: Casey Ryan, C’95
As students, I’m sure that you have strolled along this major pedestrian thoroughfare at one point on another. Now, the walkway is under construction starting with the 3600 block this summer and will continue to the 3800 and 3900 blocks this fall.
Locust Walk is the place to go to bump into other students and peers. It is more than a walkway; it serves as a social and interactive path between college houses (a.k.a. dorms) and classrooms. Each and every time during my senior spring semester I would run from my house on Sansom and hop on the Walk to get to my either my Linguistics or Business Italian class in Williams Hall, I would see several of my classmates and friends. We would catch up on last week’s cast party or make plans for that weekend, and I would be inevitably late for class. Yet, my Penn classmates and I weren’t the only things traveling along the walk. The renovation includes the replacement of underground utilities and the paved surface. In addition to the thousands of students, faculty and staff that traverse the 20 and ½ foot wide Walk, electricity, gas, water, telecommunications, and sewage all passed under our feet. This infrastructure will be improved during the renovations as well.
For now, though, the intensity of the work in a confined space requires that students, faculty and staff to be re-routed from the work area. The temporary walkways provided by the contractor for safety, will have to serve as the major social conduit through campus.
For more articles about the Locust Walk Renovation, visit:
The Daily Pennsylvanian: Construction tears up Locust Walk
Under the Button: Locust Walk Is Getting All Torn Up This Summer
Facilities: Locust Walk Renovation
Frankly Penn 
After the renovation, will I be able to walk on Locust Walk in my high heels without getting stuck?
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