With Hillsborough Street construction well under way, the Wolfline has had to work around many obstacles to provide reliable services to students.

Current changes to the regular service include eliminating stops at D.H. Hill Library and Patterson Hall. Street and lane closings have also forced Wolfline operators to use alternate streets.

Transportation University Program Associate Kim Paylor said the Wolfline will have to adapt to construction as it happens. She said the schedule and routing alterations are sometimes done with less than a week’s notice from construction crews.

“The Hillsborough Street project is going to be going on for a little over a year,” Paylor said. “We have to reroute based on what they’re doing at a particular time. I can’t say today what changes we will make in January and February.”

Paylor said students should join the Wolfline listserv to receive up-to-date information about changes.

“What we’ve tried to do is make sure decisions we’ve had to make abruptly have been safe and haven’t had a great effect on students,” Paylor said. “We haven’t had a lot of complaints. We’ve done a good job letting students know about schedule changes based on traffic changes and construction.”

Debbie Friscia, a Wolfline bus driver for three years, said construction puts a lot of stress on drivers.

“It’s a nightmare,” said Friscia. “It’s very stressful to drive down Hillsborough now. There are so many things to look out for, such as pedestrians, concrete barriers, [and] big machinery.”

For many students, delays are the biggest hindrance.

“Since they started, it’s very rare that we’re ever on time,” said Friscia. “Sometimes you sit in the street for five minutes.”

Sara Cohen, a junior in food science, said she has avoided driving down Hillsborough Street this year because of the congestion caused by Wolfline buses.

“You can tell buses are having a hard time making their way through construction,” Cohen said. “I’ve had to sit behind a bus for several minutes, just waiting until it could pass.”

Waseen Ahmed, a junior is psychology, said delays have not affected her as much.

“The only thing is that there are limited bus stops,” Ahmed said.

Ahmed has classes near the Court of North Carolina, but has no access to bus stops near any of them. All previous Wolfline stops near her classes have been blocked because of construction.

“When I get out of my classes I have to walk all the way to the library,” Ahmed saids.