Students will have to bear dodging puddles and muddy jeans until warmer and drier weather arrives.

With help from the food court construction, the lawn north of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union has become puddles of water and mud thanks to this week’s relentless showers. The wet weather has also affected the sidewalks, creating “islands” of dry land to hopscotch around in the North Quad, Carol Strode, interim director of Facilities Planning and Management said Thursday.

Strode said the piles of mud and dirt resulted from the way sidewalks were laid and because of poor drainage surrounding the Union.

Another factor causing the muddy conditions is workers digging up the ground adjacent to the Union to install a mechanical equipment room as part of the food court project. It houses all equipment to run the new food court, including heating and cooling, Strode said.

Although the mud proves to be an obstacle in accessing the food court through the north entrance, Strode said the entrance is still open because sidewalks outside the Union were laid to make the food court accessible.

Strode also said a project was planned previously to begin growing grass and adding more drainage this spring and summer.

Despite the continuous rain, Strode said workers will still have to wait to start work on the muddy area until the ground is not saturated with water, when the weather is warmer and the rain lets up.