Why can’t you drive up Towerview Road by the Hollows at night?

Trying to drive through Towerview at night? Good luck. 

Since Hollows Quad opened along the street at the beginning of the semester, Duke has opted to block off a stretch of Towerview Road between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m every night for safety reasons. The segment stretches from the intersection of Towerview Road and Duke University Road to the traffic circle at Wannamaker Drive. 

Why? A ton of people live in the Hollows. 

“The Hollows represents the largest concentration of students in a single residence hall on campus,” Vice President for Administration Kyle Cavanaugh wrote in an email to The Chronicle. “This addition will create much more pedestrian traffic in this area, so limiting vehicular traffic at night will help provide a safer environment for our students.”

Traffic can still reach the Blue Zone through several other areas, including via Wannamaker Drive off Duke University Road. 

Security will be present at the segment overnight “to provide assistance and directions as needed,” Cavanaugh wrote. 

Cavanaugh did not say if the move was in response to any particular incidents. 

Last year, an attempted armed robbery was reported in the Wannamaker fire lane, a stone’s throw from the now-blocked off segment. A second armed robbery was reported around the same time on the same night just off of Duke’s campus, near the Emily Krzyzewski Center. 

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