Update 12:45 p.m. Sept. 28: A second, shorter detour will be in place Saturday (Sept. 29) for the benefit of plant sale customers and veterinary clients and others who are blocked from going through the La Rue Road-Garrod Drive, which will be partially closed for construction. Flaggers and signs will be in place to direct motorists to the detours. See separate story and map.

Update 1 p.m. Sept. 27: People visiting campus for the arboretum plant sale Saturday (Sept. 29) must take an alternate route to avoid the intersection of La Rue Road and Garrod Drive, which will be partially closed.

The detour, pictured at right and on the Design and Construction Management website, involves using Health Sciences Drive to reach Garrod Drive. Flaggers and detour signs will be in place to direct motorists, project manager Maryanne Ranasinghe said.

Southbound La Rue Road remains under construction between Hutchison Drive and Garrod Drive, and on Saturday (Sept. 29) work will extend to close the entire east end of Garrod Drive.

Here's the detour:

• From Hutchison Drive, turn onto Health Sciences Drive (near Aggie Stadium).
• Then turn right on West Health Sciences Drive and follow it around the Health Sciences District’s back side, where West Health Sciences Drive intersects with Garrod Drive at the Gourley Clinical Teaching Center.
• Turn left on Garrod and follow it around the veterinary science complex until you reach the Arboretum Teaching Nursery on the right and the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital on the left.

View a map of the detour route on Google Maps.

Traffic lights at the intersection of Hutchison Drive and La Rue Road, which had been flashing red, are now operating normally.

•••

Flaggers are in place this week to help keep traffic flowing at the intersection of Hutchison Drive and La Rue Road, where the signals are flashing red during a construction project. But, just to be on the safe side, you may want to allow yourself extra time if you’re going that way — and especially if you’re riding Unitrans.

With fall quarter instruction starting Wednesday (Sept. 26), Unitrans has this recommendation for riders: Try to take an earlier bus during peak commute times, or, if possible, take a bus that goes to the Memorial Union Terminal. See all Unitrans routes.

The flashing-red lights are connected to the reconstruction of the southbound lanes of La Rue Road between Hutchison and Garrod drives; southbound traffic is being diverted to the northbound lanes — which has been converted to two-way traffic. The repair and repaving project is due for completion by Oct. 8; the signals at La Rue and Hutchison will revert to normal operation as soon as the contractor puts down the last layer of asphalt and reinstalls the traffic sensors.

In the meantime, please remember: When the lights are flashing red, motorists — and bicyclists, too, if they are riding in the road — must treat the intersection as a four-way stop. Everybody gets a turn.

This Saturday (Sept. 29), drivers will encounter the construction crew at the intersection of La Rue Road and Garrod Drive — which is being rebuilt. Detours and flaggers will be in place to help people get where they are going, like the arboretum plant sale and the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital.

Here’s one alternative, but it’s a long one: From Hutchison Drive turn onto Health Sciences Drive (near Aggie Stadium), then turn right on West Health Sciences Drive and follow it around the Health Sciences District’s back side, where West Health Sciences Drive intersects with Garrod Drive at the Gourley Clinical Teaching Center. Turn left on Garrod and follow around the veterinary science complex until you reach the Arboretum Teaching Nursery on the right and the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital on the left.

UC Management Development Program

UC Davis Talent Management and Development has called for applications for the UC Management Development Program to be held in four daylong sessions, Oct. 30-Nov. 27, alternating between the Davis and Sacramento campuses. Talent Management and Development will cover the cost for all selected participants. 

The Management Development Program is designed to enhance and strengthen UC manager capabilities in four core competencies: people management, employee engagement, change leadership and influence. The curriculum includes topics and discussions relevant to the demands facing UC managers. 

The application deadline is Oct. 5. More information is available online.

Sabbatical housing: Look for it online

UC Davis’ longest running support organization, the University Farm Circle, founded in 1914, offers as one of its services an online listing of sabbatical housing geared toward faculty and staff.

The list comprises furnished homes available for rent, as well as posts by people looking for housing. The University Farm Circle requires a donation of $60.00 per listing. To advertise a home rental or a home search, send an email to Diane Steele.

Transaction fees are tax deductible and support the University Farm Circle’s scholarship program for UC Davis students..

Call for Big Ideas, Round 2

As announced in August, the university is seeking additional Big Ideas, in a targeted call for proposals to fully represent the strengths and breadth of UC Davis.

The submission period for Round 2 runs from Oct. 1 to Nov. 15. New submissions are sought in the categories of student experience, arts and humanities, innovation and entrepreneurship, environmental and planetary health, and equity, inclusion and social justice. More information is available online.

Global Challenge to Prevent Breast Cancer 

The California Breast Cancer Research Program, administered by the UC Office of the President, has launched the Global Challenge to Prevent Breast Cancer, a competition for funding to “help change the trajectory of breast cancer” by focusing on primary prevention.

“Of the approximately $2 billion spent on breast cancer research each year, less than 10 percent is dedicated to prevention research,” according to the California Breast Cancer Research Program. “The opportunity for discovery is immense and the time for breakthroughs is now.”

The global challenge invites researchers and advocates to submit their bold ideas for preventing breast cancer in whole populations. Winners will receive cash prizes, feedback from respected researchers and the opportunity to present their ideas to prominent leaders in the field. The most promising ideas will frame the California Breast Cancer Research Program’s future funding strategy and will be further developed in California with $15 million in grant funding from the program. 

Blumenthal to step down at UC Santa Cruz

George Blumenthal last week announced his intention to step down as UC Santa Cruz chancellor at the end of the 2018-19 academic year. “I have decided that the time is right for me to step aside and allow someone else to assume the leadership of this remarkable institution,” he said in a Sept. 18 message to his campus community.

Blumenthal joined UC Santa Cruz in 1972 as a faculty member in astronomy and astrophysics and served for many years as a distinguished professor, researcher and campus leader, the last 12 as chancellor. Before that he served as chair of the systemwide Academic Senate.

UC President Janet Napolitano lauded Blumenthal’s “unstinting passion” for the university’s public mission and core values. “As UC Santa Cruz’s 10th chancellor, he has greatly expanded opportunities and access for underrepresented and low-income students and increased both the size and the academic scope of the campus,” she said in a statement.

Napolitano said she will convene a committee in the coming weeks to conduct a national search for Blumenthal’s replacement.

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