Garage Will Ease Campus Parking Crunch
Posted on August 5, 2010
Click here to view construction photos of the Vulcan Garage California University's rapid
enrollment growth brings more vehicles to campus each year. Beginning this
fall, many of them will be parked in the Vulcan Garage. The five-story parking facility
beside Manderino Library has room for 661 vehicles. With plenty of space for campus visitors, the garage will be
open for Move-In Day on Aug. 26 and ready for returning students, faculty and
staff when classes resume on Aug. 30. "Everything will be
operational," said Michael Peplinski, Cal U's director of physical plant. "We
may have a few loose ends to tie up, but we expect the garage to be ready on
schedule." The gated garage will be open
to drivers who have registered for spaces inside, as well as visitors and
members of the University community who choose to pay by the hour. Drivers can enter the garage
from East Alley, where the road has been widened and turning lanes added to
ease traffic congestion. A second entrance is located near the intersection of
Sixth and Park streets. Accessible to people with disabilities,
Vulcan Garage includes two elevators. Motion sensors control high-efficiency
LED lighting throughout the structure, and emergency phones are available at
every level. Ceiling height is 8 feet, 2
inches, the standard height for multilevel garages. Drivers who pay by the hour
will find pay stations conveniently located on the garage's first, third and
fourth levels. Anyone who forgets to stop at the pay station will be able to
pay with a credit card when exiting the garage. Until its permanent headquarters
is completed, the Parking and Transportation Office will be located on the
garage's first level. The office also will be accessible from inside Manderino
Library. Outside the garage, pedestrians
will find that grading has been adjusted and sidewalks have been installed.
Landscaping integrates the Vulcan Garage into the overall campus. Other improvements Near the garage, improvements
on East Alley and Sixth Street are part of the Loop Road project, which
eventually will direct traffic around the campus perimeter. The first phase, to be
completed this summer, included filling a "dip" at the intersection of Sixth
and Hickory streets with more than 4 feet of soil. Raising the road surface
required adjusting curbs and storm drains on Sixth Street, as well. "The sudden change in elevation
meant buses couldn't navigate the intersection," Peplinski explained. "To bring
buses through, we needed to level and widen the roadway." The University has taken care
to maintain parking areas behind the residence halls, and it will maintain a
temporary gravel lot with about 66 spaces at the end of Sixth Street. For now, the
Loop Road dead-ends near Gallagher Hall with an expanded lot behind Gallagher
that adds almost 30 spaces. The next phase of construction will extend the Loop
Road behind the Convocation Center.
Eventually, traffic will circle
a pedestrian-friendly main campus. In the meantime, a parking lot
with 89 spaces is being created beside Watkins Hall. Two trees - a small beech
and a flowering cherry - were relocated to suitable sites on campus. Under the
parking lot's surface, a basin 12 feet deep will collect runoff and allow
rainwater to trickle into the river. The Beazell Street railroad
crossing, near the Eberly Science and Technology Center, also is scheduled for
completion this fall. Once this crossing provides access to the River Lot, the
Third Street rail crossing will close. Hundreds of laborers and
skilled trades workers have played a part in the construction projects,
Peplinski said. The result? "When classes resume, there
should be plenty of room for parking."
Did you know?
Click here to view construction photos of the Vulcan Garage
