The newly installed traffic control gates at the University of Texas at El Paso are expected to be operational by the start of the spring semester.

Installation of the gates at the east and west ends of University Avenue on Hawthorne Street and Rim Road began in December, and officials said they will be in operation starting Tuesday.

Faculty and staff who have an orange or red inner-campus parking permit can pass through the University Avenue gates via radio-frequency identification, or RFID, embedded in their parking permit or by scanning their Miner Gold Card. In order for the parking permit to automatically raise the gate arms, it must be hanging from the rear-view mirror.

Those entering from Hawthorn Street or Rim Road will need to scan their Miner Gold Cards in order to pass through the gates.

The campus entrance on Randolph Drive with access to Cardiac Hill will be closed to entering traffic starting on Tuesday.

Visitors with temporary passes, vendors, media and unannounced guests will access campus through the lanes marked for visitors at the University Avenue entrances.

For those who do not have a temporary pass, community service guards located at the east and west entrances of University Avenue will direct visitors to the nearest visitor parking.

Drop-off locations for students are available in order to make it safer and easier to walk into campus during ongoing campus transformation construction projects, officials said.

Students who typically enter campus from the east end of University Avenue and Mesa Street should use the P-11 and P-12 lots on Oregon Street near the Don Haskins Center and Glory Road Terminal as their drop-off point. Students can then get on the Miner Metro Shuttle.

On the west end of University Avenue, near the university bookstore, students can be dropped off at the S-3 lot near the Mining Minds pick and UTEP roundabout.

There are two drop-off locations for students on the south end of campus near the Mike Loya Academic Services Building off Schuster Avenue. Those drop-off lots are P-1 and P-2.

Students should avoid being dropped off curbside near any of the entrances to campus. Instead, students are asked to use the designated drop-off locations, officials said.