Can you cross the University of Idaho without climbing stairs?
The Reddit rumor is and isn't true
Looking at Theophilus from the top of a hill on University of Idaho's campus | Cody Roberts
You might not have known this, but the University of Idaho campus has hills. Those hills are a pain. You walk to class and embarrassingly have to huff and puff through the first five minutes of a lecture. But what if you didn’t have to?
This all started with a rumor. It is from the most wholesome of platforms — Reddit. Someone asked the forum what Seattle hacks they know. A user responded with a hack about UI.
“The University of Idaho was built on a hillside but designed so that someone could use the building elevator systems to never have to lift more than a foot,” they stated.
The problem is — their source is an ex from the civil engineering department. That’s not too reliable.
So, I talked to the director of UI Architectural and Engineering Services.
“The short answer to your question is that I can definitely put the rumor to rest,” Raymond Pankopf said. “No.”
Darn. That isn’t the answer I was hoping for.
But if there isn’t a route on campus that can do what the rumor suggested, what is the best route?
Pankopf suggested going from the 7th Street pedestrian mall, near the Janssen Engineering building, up to the University Ave Mall by going up through the Mines Building and across the pedestrian bridge between Morrill Hall and the Mines Building.
From there, he suggested using the elevator in Janssen to get to the Bel or Gauss/Johnson Building.
Brandon Faunce, who works in UI’s Center for Disability Access and Resources, confirmed this route could take you from the bottom of campus at Sixth Street to the top by the admin building without climbing stairs or going up hills.
Faunce said another helpful route starts by the resident halls. If you walk Rayburn Street to Renfrew, you can go to the ISUB and up to the education building, which spits you out right behind the admin building.
A map showing the two routes to get from the bottom of campus by the resident halls to the top by the Admin Building | Cody Roberts
But what if you don’t want to dodge and weave through busy buildings? Is there a path of least resistance outside?
For an answer, we can look at our friendly neighborhood Starship robots.
John Kosh works in UI auxiliary services and was directly involved with the robots’ arrival. He said before the robots came to campus, some tech wizards walked the campus with spatial instruments and created a map of campus.
With some fancy software, they analyzed all the routes the robots could take without going over grass or going up stairs. Then they analyzed how many bustling people would be in the way along those paths.
“They were designed not to take the shortest path but the path of least resistance,” Kosh said.
That’s why there are certain paths on campus those robots just don’t take. But when the robots were first let loose, they weren’t that great at getting around. I remember seeing a few of those dorky things get stuck on curbs and stop in the middle of the road in front of a car.
However, those maps were adjusted, and they’ve learned better ways to get around.
So, there are routes on campus that can get you from the lowest point to the highest without climbing stairs. You just have to stalk a robot up a hill.
At the end of the day, whether you choose to dodge through the Mines Building, go up Rayburn Street or blindly follow a goofy food delivery robot, you just have to pick a path and stick with it.