• Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share via Email
Precast Concrete Installation Moves to Garage's West Side; $11 M Expansion on Schedule 
By next week, look for that 300-foot-tall yellow LR Liebherr 1300 crane to be back in action, hoisting big slabs of precast concrete to be installed on the west side of the expanding State Street Garage.

The $11 million project to add two more decks and 570 new parking spaces at State Street Garage remains within budget and on schedule for an early summer completion.

The Christman Co. team and its subcontractors have concluded the heavy lifting on the South Central Street side of the garage, though plenty of detail work remains there. This week, the dirt and gravel used as padding for the crane are being taken up, and soon, additional traffic lanes will reopen. The additional maneuvering room on Central Street also will free up on-street parking spaces, which are now bagged as a temporary no-parking zone.

During the week of Feb. 11, new roofing will be installed on the east side of the garage, over the north and south staircases and a new elevator shaft. When completed, the elevator will provide a more accessible route for people wishing to get from the garage to Central Street, the dog park, Marble Alley apartments and the Old City, avoiding the steep elevation change. Look for that new elevator to be installed later this spring.

However, the most noticeable work in the upcoming weeks will be on the west side of the garage, with the yellow Austrian-made crane deployed on State Street.

During this peak construction period, roughly half the garage’s existing parking spaces are out of commission, and the west-side elevator near State Street has been closed.

As construction has moved to the west side of the State Street Garage, the elevators are now out of commission.

State Street will remain closed through March to pedestrians and vehicles, which means the main exit out of the garage onto State Street – and the State Street entrance – are also closed.

The pedestrian bridge over State Street that connects State Street Garage with Gay Street will be closed while construction is in progress. State Street and the east sidewalk will be closed off due to work zone hazards, so garage parkers wishing to get to Gay Street will need to exit the garage at street level and cross State Street at either Clinch or Union avenues.

All vehicles are required to exit the garage through the north gate onto Union Avenue, so backups at certain times of day are likely.

Coming downtown for dinner and a movie, or a concert, or to shop? With the elevator and walkway closures and limited entrances and exits, State Street Garage may not be your best parking option right now. It’s a good idea to plan your parking destination before you leave your home, using real-time data.

Download a free Parkopedia.com phone app, or access it on a desktop computer, to get data from sensors at the entrances to City-owned downtown garages. You can see exactly how many parking spaces are available at each garage, and whether any are full, so you’ll save time and know where to park. Parking is free after 6 p.m. weekdays or on weekends at City-owned garages.

For instructions on how to use the Parkopedia.com app, visit https://bit.ly/2PMCt7I.

Posted by evreeland On 31 January, 2019 at 4:46 PM