The Associated Students Bike Committee released a statement on May 8 via Reddit to address community concerns about the lack of bike path access near the newly built Interactive Learning Pavilion.

Students now bike through the pedestrian walkway between the ILP and the library rather than use the detoured bike route. Alex Levin / Daily Nexus

The Interactive Learning Pavilion (ILP) — which opened to students Spring Quarter 2023 after over two years of construction — is UC Santa Barbara’s first new classroom building in 50 years, providing the campus with 28 additional lecture halls and classrooms.

The construction of the building eliminated the bike path that students typically took toward the S.T.E.M. buildings on the east side of campus, leaving only a path around the ILP and Psychology Building on UCen Road. This path is currently being used by both cars and bikes. 

“The Bike Committee strongly advocated to keep a bike path in the overall area design for the ILP when it was still in development in 2019, but this was overruled by faculty and administrators concerned about concentrating too many bikes and pedestrians in one area,” the Associated Students (A.S.) Bike Committee said in the statement. “They opted to permanently reroute bikes onto UCen Road.”

Consequently, students now bike through the pedestrian walkway between the ILP and the library rather than use the detoured bike route.

“There should be a bike path here,” first-year pre-biology major Galen Tse said, in reference to the walking path between the library and the ILP. “I always just bike through here even though I think they don’t want you to.”

The A.S. Bike Committee said in the statement that they are currently meeting with administrators and other campus groups to address the issues of accessibility and safety with the current ILP-adjacent bike routes.

“We want students to be aware that there are ongoing discussions about the path and other campus biking hot spots between various campus entities and administrators, including the Bike Committee,” the statement read. “We are grateful that students have been so vocal about bike related issues; it is because so many have spoken up that these meetings are happening at all.”

The statement also said that campus officials have acknowledged the accessibility issues associated with the eliminated bike path. 

“Campus officials have acknowledged that the current situation is not working,” the statement continued. “The Bike Committee will continue to advocate for improvements to the area that prioritize student safety and efficient, enjoyable bike infrastructure.”

The committee is seeking testimonies from the community — drivers, cyclists and pedestrians — in a survey inquiring how the committee can improve bike infrastructure across campus.

A version of this article appeared on p. 1 of the May 11, 2023, print edition of the Daily Nexus.

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Alex Levin
Alex Levin (he/him) is the University News Editor for the 2023-24 school year. Previously, Levin was the Assistant News Editor for the 2022-2023 school year. He can be reached at alexlevin@dailynexus.com.