Construction will soon begin on the 600-space, five-level South College Street Parking Deck.
“The contractors received a notice to proceed on Monday, July 16,” said Martha Gentry, manager of Auburn University facilities communications. “This means they can begin to bring equipment and construction fencing to the site."
The parking deck will be located on College Street between Roosevelt Drive and the main entrance to The Hotel at Auburn University and Dixon Conference Center. The parking deck will be constructed over the existing surface parking lot south of the hotel, according to a press release from Auburn University’s Office of Communications and Marketing.
The Auburn University Board of Trustees approved construction of the parking deck during its April meeting.
The parking deck project is scheduled to take place in three stages.
“Utilities located underneath the south lot and within the footprint of the new parking deck will need to be relocated to South College Street to allow for construction of the parking deck,” said Interim University Architect Simon Yendle. “In an effort to limit traffic impact, we have designed construction to take place in stages so, while there will be lane closures on South College Street associated with this project, both north and south bound travel lanes will remain open at all times during the project.”
The first stage is scheduled to take place mid-July through Sept. 1. This stage consists of closing the south parking lot of the hotel, closing the adjacent sidewalk and two northbound lanes of South College Street from Roosevelt Avenue to the entrance of the hotel.
During this stage, both northbound lanes of South College Street between Miller and Thach avenues will be closed. Northbound traffic will be routed around the site using the center, left-turn lane, according to a press release from the City of Auburn.
"We do not have an exact date from the contractor at this time as to when the two northbound lanes of South College Street will close,” said Gentry.
The sidewalk along the east side of South College Street will also be closed. Pedestrians will be routed to the sidewalk along the west side of South College Street, according to a press release from the City of Auburn.
These closures will last through Sept. 1.
“No other street closures are scheduled at this time,” Gentry said. “It is important to note that traffic will continue to flow at all times during this project.”
The next stage of the construction is scheduled to take place from Sept. 1 to Nov. 19. Once this stage begins, the two northbound lanes will re-open, to allow for football traffic to travel downtown, while the sidewalk remains closed.
Construction on the deck will continue in the south parking lot of the hotel, according to the press release from the Office of Communications and Marketing.
There are no road closures planned to take place during the second phase.
The third and final stage will begin Nov. 19 and last through May 2019.
During this stage, there will be streetscape work on the new median and crosswalk as well as construction of new steps and ADA access to the south side of the hotel as the deck is completed.
Lane closures can be expected as the final stage is under way, but planned lane shifts will allow for traffic to flow at all times, according to the Office of Communications and Marketing.
Once the project is complete there will be a 600-space parking deck, a 14-foot-wide sidewalk from Roosevelt to the hotel entrance, parallel parking on the street in front of the parking deck, a median in front of the new deck, a mid-block crossing with a flashing beacon and steps and an ADA ramp on the south side entrance to the conference center.
The work on the streetscape and crosswalk has been in collaboration with the City of Auburn. The city is helping to fund the work, according to the Office of Communications and Marketing.
Construction is scheduled to be complete in May 2019, said Gentry.
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