University of Texas – Pan American Campus Master Plan

This master plan, designed for the University of Texas-Pan American, is far more ambitious than the typical campus plan. It creates a framework to build community prosperity, educate global citizens, and promote healthy living in the Rio Grande Valley, all while increasing student enrollment and expanding housing. The phased strategy would triple the university’s facilities, enhance campus beauty, and strengthen connections to the city.

“By implementing a few changes in street structure, landscaping, and densifying development, the city can create a successful ‘college town’ atmosphere that would thrive with our campus community” explains Marta Salinas-Hovar, planner for UTPA. “The mayor and city leaders were excited with the potential economic boost to the city.”

The campus in the heart of the nation’s fastest growing region is well sited: two blocks from Edinburg’s city hall, and a few more blocks from the county courthouse and deteriorating town square. Despite its location, the campus currently feels disconnected.

“Buildings are pulled back from campus edges, and a ring of parking creates both a physical and psychological barrier,” the architects note. “City streets bordering campus lack pedestrian and bicycle amenities, and accidents are a regular occurrence.”

The new campus master plan uses new construction to create better public spaces within the campus and create “a bridge to the neighboring city, filling the ‘no man’s land’ that currently isolates the campus with new academic and residential neighborhoods.”

The project promotes safety through new streetscape guidelines that establish a vehicular, pedestrian, and bicycle hierarchy. Speeds are reduced, travel lanes are narrowed, sidewalks are clearly marked, bike paths are provided, and pedestrian crossings are enhanced and increased. The project advocates the redevelopment of the neighboring commercial strip, which, aligned with the city’s master plan, will help revitalize downtown.

“With obesity at epidemic levels in the region, increased opportunities for recreation and movement are not just desirable but crucial to the future well-being of students and the larger community,” the architects write.