Shepherd University’s proposed Route 480 underpass is set up to do all of the right things.

It’s planned to get students, faculty and staff from one campus to the other safely, alleviate foot traffic on a main thoroughfare passing through town and between the campuses and keep vehicular traffic moving at a steady pace just yards from the busiest four-way stop in town.

And university officials certainly worked diligently in seeing that bases were covered before presenting this idea to the public, who would most definitely be affected during the project’s construction and once the tunnel is complete.

And after holding a forum with community members and officials working on the project, we at The Shepherdstown Chronicle hope that Shepherd works to address many of residents’ concerns and ideas to ensure that the Route 480 stretch between the West and East campuses is the safest it can be for both pedestrians and motorists alike.

This underpass, a large undertaking project- and budget-wise, could be a wonderful model of community engagement between the university and town.

For more about what happened at the meeting regarding the underpass, read our story on Page 1 or visit www.shepherd.edu/underpass/.