Inside Iowa State

May 2, 2008

Plan ahead for parking, street closures

by Anne Krapfl

Beginning this month and lasting for about two years, construction of the new Hach Hall chemistry facility will interrupt use of adjacent parking lots. For several weeks this summer, it also will close first Pammel Drive, then Osborn Drive, so crews can build an underground utility corridor to the building site, north of Davidson Hall.

"The schedule we've been sharing with the campus community is our best projection," said campus planner Cathy Brown. "As the contracts are awarded over the next three months, the contractors will firm up dates."

Street closures

Included in the Hach Hall budget is $4.7 million to build a new underground utility corridor (steam, chilled water, domestic water, natural gas) for the building site. This work also expands the utilities capacity for future growth in the northwest part of campus. The new corridor will run beneath parking lot 23 and tie into utilities that run along the south side of Osborn Drive and the north side of Pammel Drive.

The utilities work will begin sometime in May, most likely at the north end of the site, requiring the temporary closing of Pammel Drive and part of WOI Road. Drivers are reminded that the Osborn Drive gates are raised during the summer months, making that street an alternate route.

Sometime in July, Pammel Drive and WOI Road will reopen. The work will move to the south end of the site, requiring the temporary closing of Osborn Drive at approximately the east end of Coover Hall. Osborn Drive is scheduled to reopen in August before the fall semester begins.

Construction of Hach Hall is scheduled to begin in early August, following the demolition of Industrial Education I and the Ag Engineering Shed. If all work stays on schedule, the facility should be ready for tenants in August 2010.

The parking lots

Parking lots (at least partially with reserved stalls) affected by the Hach Hall project are:

• Lot 23, between Armory and Davidson. It will close following spring commencement and reopen as a smaller lot in June 2010.
• Lot 22, north of Armory. Following the reopening of lot 23, it will close from June to August 2010 to be enlarged slightly and reconfigured to add parking stalls.
• Lot 24, north of Davidson and the site of the new Hach Hall. It will close permanently following spring commencement.
• Lot 25, west of Spedding. If an optional tunnel linking Gilman and Hach halls becomes financially feasible, this lot could close for about three months (dates not known).

Net loss of 30 reserve spots

Officials in the parking division of the public safety department are contacting all permit holders in lots 22, 23 and 24 to talk with them about their options and to record their interim and long-term parking preferences. Some of their options include: voluntary change to general staff parking, move to another reserve lot where an opening existed, or move to new reserved rows or sections in what otherwise are non-reserve lots (lot 11 north of Town Engineering or lot 21 west of the Armory).

The process of assigning new spots has begun and will wrap up in early May. As with all reserve parking assignments, they are determined by employees' seniority at the university, not seniority in a lot or time on a waiting list.

Mishelle Michel, program coordinator in the parking division, estimates that when Hach Hall is complete and the lots reopen, there will be a net loss of about 30 stalls. However, in anticipation of the chemistry project, parking officials haven't assigned any new permits in lots 22 or 23 for the last two years. Therefore, neither lot currently is at capacity, which has lessened the impact of the changes to the lots.

Construction will close parking lots and streets in the northwest corner of campus. Work begins this month, closing parts of Pammel Drive and WOI Road.