Ulster University has clashed with Infrastructure Minister John O'Dowd over road safety concerns at its new Belfast campus.
The university's vice-chancellor called for an "urgent meeting" with the Sinn Féin minister to discuss delays in changes to the busy York Street junction.
Professor Paul Bartholomew told Mr O'Dowd he was "surprised and disappointed" the Department for Infrastructure had claimed in press statements that the university had not proposed any improvements.
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It comes amid fears over thousands of students having to cross the junction with the eight-lane-wide Great Patrick Street to reach the new multi-million-pound campus.
In a letter to the minister, seen by Belfast Live, the vice-chancellor said: "Ulster University has been working collaboratively with all relevant agencies, including the Department for Infrastructure, to address these issues.
"Therefore, I was surprised and disappointed to read the Department for Infrastructure statement that UU 'were obliged to arrange any road infrastructure improvements... and did not propose any improvements to this junction'."
In the letter sent earlier this month, he added: "I feel an urgent meeting is required to find an appropriate resolution to these infrastructure challenges, particularly as we look forward to welcoming students onto the new campus over the coming weeks.
"I would also like to take this opportunity to show you around our new campus and would be grateful if our offices could liaise to arrange this."
Mr O'Dowd's private secretary responded a week later declining the invitation, saying that "unfortunately due to diary commitments the minister is unable to accept at this stage".
In a letter in March to the minister's predecessor Nichola Mallon, a senior university director said the junction was a "safety risk".
"Almost 4,000 students, rising to 5,000 in September 2022 now use this junction as a pedestrian crossing on a daily basis. In consultation with the PSNI, local residents, Belfast City Council and other partners in our Community Safety Forum, we have identified this junction as a particular safety risk," they said.
"We are additionally concerned that the opening of our new campus will add additional burdens to this junction, including unauthorised attempt to cross the junction at a diagonal."
They asked for progress on "redesigning the junction" in order to "ensure the safety of pedestrians".
Some 15,500 students and staff have been brought into the city centre as part of the long-delayed £370million university redevelopment.
The junction along York Street beside the campus connects motorists to the Westlink, M2 and M3 - three of Northern Ireland's busiest roads.
A multi-agency working group which includes the university has been examining the junction since 2020, according minutes obtained through a Freedom of Information request.
It made proposals for changes to the junction such as reducing lanes of traffic, new crossing arrangements, and dedicated routes for cyclists. Last month, the university said formal decisions from DfI were still "pending".
In October 2020, a DfI official advised the working group that the department had "suspended" work on the redesign of the junction following Ms Mallon's decision to review the York Street Interchange project.
Minutes from a travel subgroup meeting in April this year said the junction had been "placed on hold" until agreement was reached surrounding future traffic plans around Royal Avenue and Donegall Place.
The notes said Translink want to maintain a two-way corridor but the city council and Department for Communities support a one-way operation, with the junction "placed on hold at present until the operating corridor is agreed".
Separately, records also suggest a late plan to ban most vehicles from part of York Street outside the university had been given the green light a year ago.
The department launched a consultation for the trial scheme this month with a closing date for responses of October 6 - more than a week into the new semester.
But the junctions working group minutes suggest the proposal was agreed by DfI's Eastern Division in early September last year.
All vehicles except buses, bicycles and blue-badge holders will be prohibited from travelling along the section of York Street between Donegall Street and Great Patrick Street under the proposals.
The Department for Infrastructure and Ulster University were approached for comment.
Mr O'Dowd has previously said officials have been working with the university and other stakeholders on long-term plans for the junction.
In response to Assembly questions, he said his department is planning work on an "interim scheme" to improve the existing pedestrian crossings.
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