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  ROSETTE GONZALES USAC president, Karren Lane, (left), speaks at a meeting as Evan Okamura and the rest of the USAC members listen.

By Arj Arjunan

Daily Bruin Contributor

At its Tuesday meeting, members of the Undergraduate Students Association Council said current construction projects around campus inconvenience students without adequately considering student interests.

Facilities commissioner Jeremy McKenzie reported to the council that the number of construction projects undertaken by Capital Programs has increased this year and will continue over the next several years.

Capital Programs oversees all construction projects at UCLA and draws up plans for projects, takes bids from contractors and sets completion dates.

USAC members said students have contacted them to complain about the noise, dust, delays and general disruptions to campus life that construction projects have caused.

“The general sentiment is that people are fed up with project after project,” McKenzie said.

He said students have complained about the dump trucks leaving the Intramural Field that kick up dust and congest traffic on Charles E. Young Drive West and the construction noise.

Tom LaVanne, director of construction services for Capital Programs, said Capital Programs has addressed the issues surrounding the construction under the IM Field by sweeping dust from streets and working with traffic monitors to ensure student safety on Young Drive after trucks transporting dirt increased traffic along the route.

“There’s always discussion of how to move forward with a low impact on student life,” LaVanne said.

In recent years, Capital Programs has worked on the construction of De Neve Plaza and renovation of Haines Hall. Current projects include construction of the parking structure under the IM Field, the Westwood Replacement Hospital and the Physics and Astronomy building.

Capital Programs is also renovating and seismically retrofitting the Men’s Gym. Following the 1994 Northridge 6.7 earthquake, UCLA scheduled all campus buildings for seismic retrofitting.

Marc Fisher, campus architect for Capital Programs, said past projects – the renovation of Kerckhoff Hall, Ackerman Union, Moore Hall and Powell Library from 1990-95 – had a greater impact on student life because they all occurred in the same area on campus.

Capital Programs established the project impact mitigation committee to bring together construction project managers and members of the community to discuss current and future projects.

The monthly committee meetings allow the project managers to notify interested parties about projects under development that will begin in the next three to six months, LaVanne said.

McKenzie said Capital Programs has not regularly notified him about the committee meetings. He said he will attend its meeting Friday.

Internal vice president Kennisha Austin said students should have a larger voice in the number of construction projects undertaken because of the impact on student life.

“We need to investigate the role we play in these decisions and make sure students are taken into account,” Austin said.

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