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Campus Construction

Welcome to Duke! We are committed to keeping you informed about important construction projects happening around campus. Check back regularly for updates on major projects, timelines, detours, and campus impacts.

Home Info For Parents and Families Campus Construction

Current Projects – updated 6/13/25

For real-time road closure updates, campus visitors can also check Google Maps on your mobile device.

  • Duke is transitioning from its longtime steam heating system to a more energy-efficient hot water system. Beginning in May, Gross Hall and Sanford Hall will join the hot water network, which uses underground pipes connected to a West Campus plant.
  • Both lanes of Towerview Road—from the Law School Lot entrance to the Student Wellness Center—will be closed for pipe connection work. Science Drive will stay open. About 30 spaces in the Law School Lot will be used for equipment and work access.
  • Towerview Road is set to reopen in mid-August.
  • As part of Duke’s shift to the new hot water system, a web of underground steam lines will be decommissioned. Some of these lines run beneath Campus Drive between East and West campuses.
  • Chapel Drive is temporarily closed. The Chapel Drive bus stop will move to Flowers Drive, and all pedestrian traffic will be detoured around Chapel Drive.
  • A raised crosswalk, traffic control bollards and permanent information booth will be installed.
  • Work is expected to be completed by September 2025.
  • Landscape work on the Wall Center side of the quad will be very close to completion by the end of summer 2025
  • The refresh of the landscape, hardscape and infrastructure within the East Campus Quad will continue this summer. Throughout the past academic year work has continued on the project, which involved replacing the stormwater drainage system, sidewalks, granite curbs and irrigation system as well as upgrading the lighting with LEDs.
  • The work will require intermittent sidewalk closures and roadway closures within East Campus Quad.
  • Sidewalks and roadways in the East Campus Quad should reopen by the end of the fall semester, while work will continue on plantings and landscaping throughout the fall and spring semesters. The final step will be repaving the roadway surrounding the quad, which should take place in spring of 2026.
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  • Construction is under way at Sarah P. Duke Gardens, marking a transformational redesign to deliver long-awaited enhancements to the visitor experience.
  • The garden grounds are open, but there will be no access to the Doris Duke Center and the Gardens’ parking lots.
  • A new temporary pedestrian entrance at 2000 Lewis Street will replace the main entrance on Anderson Street, which is closed.
  • Visitors also may enter the gardens on foot through the garden gates leading to West Campus along Flowers Drive. 
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  • The entrance to the Nasher Museum from Anderson Street is closed. The museum’s main parking lot will remain accessible from Campus Drive and Duke University Road. The space is expected to be ready in the summer of 2025.
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  • Lilly Library was closed to the public in early May 2024. Work on the project is expected to begin this summer. Once work starts, six of the tennis courts behind Lilly Library will be removed. Access to the East Gated Lot No. 2 will be available for construction traffic only and traffic on Brodie Gym Drive will be limited during the work. During the project, the Lilly Library staff will be housed in Bishop’s House, which is behind Bassett Residence Hall. Library services such as reserving or checking out materials, printing and scanning will be available there.
  • The project is expected to last two years, with the goal of having the library open by summer of 2026.
  • The Washington Duke Inn’s lobby, Bull Durham Bar and patio and the Fairview patio will all be renovated. There will also be a new restroom added to the public spaces of the hotel near West Campus.
  • The hotel will be closed to the public from June 29 to July 13. Pedestrian traffic through the interior of the hotel will be re-routed as needed throughout the duration of the project.
  • The project is expected to be completed in the spring of 2026.
  • A repair and repaving project will give Yearby Avenue a new road surface, bike lanes, upgraded gutters and new sidewalks. The work is part of a larger project that will eventually upgrade Flowers Drive as well.
  • Scheduled to begin in July, Yearby Avenue will be closed between Anderson Street and the entrance to the Graduate Center Lot near Flowers Drive. All sidewalks will be open during the project. GC Lot users can access the lot via Flowers Drive. H Lot permit holders can access the lot from Anderson Street. The H-1 bus route will have an additional stop on Flowers Drive during the project.
  • The work is expected to be completed in late July or early August.

Questions?

Please email us if you have any questions about a campus construction project.

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