Two temporary parking areas to open this week

September 30, 2013 | UToday
By Staff



Work is under way on three temporary parking areas being constructed in response to the emergency repairs that have closed the upper two levels of the East Parking Ramp on Main Campus.

The need for the emergency repairs was discovered Sept. 20 by contractors conducting inspections as part of scheduled maintenance and repair work on the parking ramps.

Facilities and Construction officials will close the East Ramp during fall break – Monday and Tuesday, Sept. 30 and Oct. 1 – as they begin repairs. Lower levels will reopen Wednesday as students return to campus.

The first two temporary parking areas are scheduled to open Wednesday, Oct. 2, the first day after fall break.

One will be north of Parking Area 20, which is opposite Palmer Hall at the College of Engineering. It will provide 88 new parking spaces. Access to this parking area will be from Westwood Avenue. It will be called Parking Area 20N and will be designated for vehicles with A, C or K permits.

The other lot will be on the southern portion of the former site of Dowd, Nash and White Halls. It will provide 93 parking spaces. Access will be from Campus Road. It will be called Parking Area 13E and will be designated for vehicles with A or C permits.

Additional temporary parking is being planned as an expansion of Parking Area 19 at the College of Engineering between Douglas Road and Westwood Avenue, north of Oakwood Avenue. When completed, this area will provide approximately 200 additional parking spaces. It will be called Parking Area 19W and will be designated for vehicles with A or C permits.

These temporary parking areas will be constructed of compacted stone, so those using them are reminded to use extra caution when walking. The temporary lots will have striping and traffic control devices to assist with maintaining safe parking configurations. It will be important for those using the temporary lots to park only in designated parking spaces. These temporary parking areas have been designed by DGL Consulting Engineers and are being built by Miller Brothers Construction.

Phil Whaley, a structural engineer at Poggemeyer Design Group and a regional expert in the repair of concrete structures, is coordinating the repair work on the East Parking Ramp. He is working with structural engineers from Structural Pullman, national experts in the repair of precast, pre-tensioned concrete structures — like the East Ramp — to design and complete the repairs. It is expected that the repairs necessary to address the problems identified in the ramp will be completed by the end of December.

As part of the University’s commitment to safety on its campuses, additional testing of the structural columns and beams of the parking ramps will be conducted. These tests will examine the chemical composition of the concrete and the structural integrity of the reinforcing steel inside the concrete. Whaley will design the testing regimen, which will be conducted by Toledo Testing Laboratories.

Until the repairs are complete, the upper two levels of the East Parking Ramp will remain closed. Although the testing and repair work may restrict use of some additional areas of the parking ramps on a temporary basis, the West Parking Ramp and the lower levels of the East Parking Ramp will remain open based on the current assessment by the independent structural engineer working with the University that these areas of the garages remain safe.

In addition to the new temporary lots, alternate parking areas on Main Campus include Parking Area 25, located west of Rocket Hall, and Parking Area 20, which is south of the College of Engineering. Spaces also are available in Parking Area 23 on Scott Park Campus, which is served at least twice an hour during weekday daylight hours by UT Transit Services shuttles. Main Campus Gold Loop and Blue Loop routes also are available. UT Transit routes and schedules are available at utoledo.edu/facilities/transit.

Further updates will be issued on the temporary replacement lots, as well as the additional testing and permanent repairs in the parking ramps, as information is available.

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