Construction of an addition to the Thompson Street (W3) Parking Structure is scheduled to begin May 4.
The work will provide a net additional 273 parking spaces. During construction the net impact on blue-permit parking will result in a temporary loss of approximately 200 spaces.
The project includes addition of an office building for Parking & Transportation Services (PTS) and the Office of Budget & Planning. It also will provide additional (and enclosed) motorcycle parking and secured, enclosed parking for 50 bicycles. The project is scheduled for completion in fall 2010.
“The addition is an integral part of the university’s parking and transportation strategic plan to provide for anticipated incremental growth in parking demand and to replace spaces lost on Central Campus due to various construction projects, including Weill Hall and the Perry Building addition,” says Dave Miller, PTS executive director.
The project will start with the temporary closure for 2-4 weeks of the main east entrance to the parking structure on Thompson Street. During this time, access to the parking deck will be from the Division Street drive lane on the west side of the structure. Staff will provide traffic assistance during peak entry and exit periods.
This initial phase of construction will provide wider entry/exit lanes, a motorcycle lane and pedestrian walkways on each side of the drive lane. During this time, parking for the disabled will be relocated temporarily from the first level to the second, due to restricted access at the construction area. The accessible route for disabled parkers exiting the structure will follow the elevator to the ground floor elevator lobby door and ramp to Thompson Street.
By the end of May, the new Thompson Street entrance is scheduled to reopen and the west side drive lane will be closed for construction of the new parking structure addition and office building. Disabled parking will be relocated back to the ground level at that time.
The project will result in several other changes to the area’s parking during construction. The following parking along Division Street and on Thompson Street will be closed:
• W2 gravel parking lot — blue permit and business vehicle parking spaces
• W8 restricted parking lot
• W7 motorcycle parking lot, behind the Thompson structure on Division Street
• W18 motorcycle parking (mixed-use lot south of the structure)
• In the parking structure, all spaces on the west side on all levels and the entire basement will be closed. These closures are necessary to accommodate construction of the connectors between the existing and new decks and for safety reasons. Parking on the east side of the west row and the up-ramps on all levels will remain open.
In order to partially accommodate these impacts, the following changes will occur:
• W18 Lot (south of the structure) will be reconfigured to provide an additional 20 blue permit and nine business vehicle spaces; 41 visitor spaces will be retained.
• The motorcycle parking from the W7 and W18 Lots will be relocated to the W13 Lot, on Thompson Street north of the Student Activities Building.
• Four spaces in the Thompson structure will be converted from blue to gold parking and gold parking will be relocated to the east side of the ramp from level one to two and to the south end of level two.
To deal with the temporary loss of blue-permit spaces, PTS suggests the following alternatives:
• Blue-permit parking is available in neighboring structures: Fletcher Street (N13) and Palmer Drive (N26), with an average combined vacancy of 220 blue spaces.
• Alternative visitor parking is located in the W5 lot, behind the LSA Building on Maynard, and in the Maynard Street city parking structure.
Parking on Central Campus during the construction will be challenging. PTS encourages blue-permit parkers to consider the following options for getting to campus:
• Park on South Campus in the SC12 Lot (Greene at Hill) and the SC2 Lot (Hoover at Greene) with 10-minute bus service via the Northbound Commuter. Riders can board at the Administrative Services Building on Greene at Hoover and disembark on State Street across from the Michigan Union.
• Exchange blue for yellow permits and park in the SC9 Lot (Coliseum lot on Hill at Division). This location is a short walk from the west side of Central Campus, and the permit exchange offers significant financial savings.
• Exchange blue for orange permits and park at the SC7 Lot (east of Crisler Arena), and take the Northbound Commuter that runs every 10 minutes to Central Campus.
Contact Parking Customer Services at [email protected] for further information or assistance.
