Construction of the new parking garage and installation of a water drainage pipe will close sections of Raphael Semmes Road on March 7.
The construction of the new parking garage will close a section of Raphael Semmes west of East Campus Drive for about one year, according to Gary Graham, director of the Office of Parking, Traffic and Transportation.
Cars will only be able to drive east toward the Faculty Club, Graham said.
He said construction workers need more space to build the facility.
“It’s a pretty tight site because they have to be able to avoid those trees,” Graham said.
Emmett David, director of facility development, said the parking garage is planned to be finished by Jan. 6, 2012.
The parking garage will provide spaces for about 750 cars. Roughly half of the spaces will be designated for visitor parking, David said.
Money from visitor parking meters, parking permits and auxiliaries like Barnes and Noble will fund the project, Graham said.
Graham said construction has already begun. Highland Cafeteria is being torn down, as are the African American Cultural and the Women’s centers.
The two centers will be rebuilt in the parking garage, along with a new bookstore, Graham said.
David said the two centers have been temporarily relocated to Hatcher Hall.
Another part of the project — the installation of a storm water drainage pipe — will close a different section of Raphael Semmes east of East Campus Drive for two to three weeks. Cars will still be able to navigate both ways down the street in that section of the roadway, Graham said.
“This area is not highly trafficked to begin with, so it shouldn’t be a major problem,” he said.
Graham said he hopes most of the installation will be completed during Mardi Gras break.
The cost for both projects is $22,180,000, and Satterfield & Pontikes Construction Inc. will conduct the construction, David said.
 
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Contact Meredith Will at [email protected]