For Sutton Residents and commuter students that park in the Rollins Parking Garage, a semester-long battle has come to an end. The Tiedtke Walkway connecting the farthest points on campus such as Sutton Place Apartments and the Rollins Parking Garage has reopened starting at the beginning of the 2025 spring semester. Complete with a newly paved two-way road allowing vehicle and golf cart traffic, the reopening of the route features the reinstated pedestrian sidewalk lining the edge of Lake Virginia. During the fall semester, traversing this route meant enduring a makeshift dirt path flanked by bright blue tarps that obscured any view of the lake. The initial closing of the walkway was due to the ongoing construction of the East End Neighborhood, set to open in the fall semester of 2026. While the closure may have been temporary, it came with an emotional cost.
Mourning the lakefront path was unexpectedly difficult last semester. No matter how many times I navigated the altered route amidst construction, it lacked the sense of comfort and familiarity that once made the walk a highlight of my day. While the scenic views of Lake Virginia have returned seemingly untouched, my journey along the new sidewalk each day evokes a different set of emotions from previous semesters: a newfound sense of gratitude and appreciation. Becoming aware of just how ephemeral natural landscapes, even cultivated ones like the banks of Lake Virginia, are in the face of urbanization compels a deeper sense of mindfulness. On the walkway these days, I seem to notice more—an anhinga perched on a lowly branch basking in the warm rays of the sun, the delicate songs of the warblers that zip between the trees, or the blazing orange hue of a Gatorade cap nestled amongst the reeds.
Peering down over the black bars of the walkway will not only reveal an abundance of wildlife but an assortment of debris, ranging from plastic water bottles, torn labels, and small slips of paper. The pollution I’ve noticed in the weeks following the walkway’s reopening could be attributed to a more careful, aware eye—one paying closer attention to details I’d previously overlooked. However, a broader question rises to the surface, much like the floating fragments of paper drifting along the shoreline.
The ongoing development of the East End Neighborhood, only a few feet away from the banks of Lake Virginia, symbolizes a larger, more complex issue: how urbanization and development impacts surrounding bodies of water. One major impact that development and construction have on natural landscapes is through increased turbidity.
Turbidity, as defined by The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is “a measure of the level of particles such as sediment, plankton, or organic by-products, in a body of water.” Activities like digging, drilling, ploughing, and bulldozing dislodge millions of particles including sediment, dust, and other debris. These pollutants become mobile when rainfall propels them into motion. As rainwater accumulates these particles, it travels across impervious urban surfaces—parking lots, sidewalks, and streets—where it cannot seep into the ground. This contaminated water, known as stormwater runoff, eventually flows into larger bodies of water such as oceans, rivers, streams, and lakes. In the case of Lake Virginia, the polluted runoff doesn’t have far to travel.
The impact of contaminated runoff, which can contain particles of paint, fuel, and other construction materials, is far reaching, affecting more than just the quality of water. In addition to impacting aspects of water quality such as temperature, acidity, and dissolved oxygen levels (factors that contribute to the health of the ecosystem and its inhabitants), increased turbidity and particles in the water can also block sunlight from penetrating the surface, limiting the amount of light received by aquatic plants. Without sufficient sunlight, these plants are unable to survive, leaving wildlife without a habitat and food.
The physical pollution, made apparent by the removal of the blue tarps, is merely the visible layer of a much larger issue—a pollution pyramid. As construction on the East End Neighborhood continues, the fate of Lake Virginia, along with the ecosystems and organisms it supports, remains an open-ended question. While natural ecosystems—whether a lake, river, or ocean—possess remarkable resilience, why is it that we must always reach their threshold?
The long-term impact of microscopic pollutants on Lake Virginia might be beyond what the average Rollins student can tackle. However, the fate of discarded Dasani bottles and Tito’s handles hidden underneath the metal black bars is not. Making sure that each bit of waste, from the entire plastic bottle down to just a piece of the wrapper, makes its way into a trash or recycling bin not only keeps these landscapes beautiful but ensures the integrity of these ecosystems and the safety of the incredible creatures that inhabit them.
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