Officials installed an above-ground pipe in Kogan Plaza last year to address a steam leak, unknowingly sparking a silent skirmish between officials looking to mitigate a tripping hazard and pedestrians looking for a shortcut. 

For months, workers placed plastic rocks — held down by sandbags — atop the pipe in the flower bed, but students crossing through the garden regularly moved the obstacles out of the way for the sake of the shortcut. On one occasion, someone hung one of the fake hollow rocks on GW’s America’s gate on 22nd street, apparently a protest over the controversial pathway. Yet, without fail, the cast-off plastic rocks would be placed back on the pipe to block the pathway.

Last week, officials blocked the shortcut with holly plants alongside existing raised garden beds, though the plants lasted for just a few days.

But the silent battle reached a temporary conclusion Tuesday after workers installed a shortcut ramp above the pipe between Veterans Memorial Park and the flower patch on the south side of Gelman Library, removing most of the plants and rocks in the patch Thursday. 

University spokesperson Julia Metjian said the ramp is temporary and allows students to cut through Kogan using the official shortcut that existed before the barriers were installed.

“At the moment, students are again able to use the shortcut over the temporary ramp,” Metjian said.

Officials appear to have installed the above-ground pipe in response to a broken pipe that led to water leaks, steam and ice along the walkway on campus. But the addition meant students would have to walk about a few dozen extra feet around the Veterans Memorial or take the shortcut through the garden and walk over the pipe.

John Attwood, a junior studying history, said the path is long overdue because there hasn’t been an official shortcut through Kogan in a long time.

“It was not a huge inconvenience, but it was kind of an inconvenience to walk around,” Attwood said.