Portion of Division Street closing for two days for mass concrete pour on underground parking deck
This portion of Division Street in downtown Ann Arbor where crews are working on a new underground parking deck, between Liberty and William, will be closed for the weekend for a mass concrete pour.
Ryan J. Stanton | AnnArbor.com
A one-block portion of South Division Street in downtown Ann Arbor will be closed this weekend for a mass concrete pour operation for the nearby underground parking deck project.
Lansing-based Christman Constructors Inc. posted notices saying the work will begin at 5 a.m. Saturday and run through 10 p.m. Sunday.
Division Street will be closed between William and Liberty streets during the duration of the event. One lane will remain open between Liberty and Huron.
Christman is warning residents not to be alarmed to see southbound truck traffic in the west lane of Division, which is normally one-way northbound, from Huron to William as crews carry materials to the construction site.
"CCI appreciates your patience and understanding while we continue moving forward with this monumental project for the city of Ann Arbor," Christman wrote in its notice to residents.
City officials said northbound traffic at the intersection of Division and William will be directed west on William, north on Fourth Avenue, east on Liberty Street and north on Division. Access to the local addresses on Division between William and Liberty will be maintained at all times.
The $50 million underground parking deck on the Library Lot site is being financed by the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority. It will be owned by the city of Ann Arbor.
The city's Library Lot RFP Review Committee is expected to meet at 9 a.m. Thursday on the fourth floor of city hall to discuss a private developer's proposal for a hotel and conference center to be built on top of the underground parking deck once it's complete. The committee will review a proposed letter of intent to be presented to the Ann Arbor City Council.
A status update on the parking structure construction is expected at the DDA's next regular board meeting at noon on Wednesday. The DDA meets at 150 S. Fifth Ave.
Ryan J. Stanton covers government and politics for AnnArbor.com. Reach him at ryanstanton@annarbor.com or 734-623-2529.
Comments
leaguebus
Mon, Feb 28, 2011 : 4:45 p.m.
Good post Tom, it sounds like full speed ahead on the conference center for the council. Whats $1M a year to the already over flowing AA city budget?
Tom Whitaker
Sat, Feb 26, 2011 : 2:02 a.m.
Since you mention the RFP committee for the conference center, I'm curious why Annarbor.com has completely ignored the coverage given this topic by Vivienne Armentrout on her Local in Ann Arbor blog? Most of annarbor.com comes from other sources, so I can't imagine it's because she scooped you. Her latest post discusses the report submitted to Council by Charles Skelton, a national hotel and hospitality consultant based in Ann Arbor. Mr. Skelton, as he has hypothesized in the past, now presents an in-depth analysis of what a money-loser a publicly-owned conference center would be. <a href="https://localannarbor.wordpress.com/2011/02/19/ann-arbor-conference-center-an-authoritative-study/" rel='nofollow'>https://localannarbor.wordpress.com/2011/02/19/ann-arbor-conference-center-an-authoritative-study/</a> Why are Margie Teall and Stephen Rapundalo pushing so hard for this conference center, with nothing but anecdotal remarks by a few proponents and the word of the developers to go on? Why did they rush the approval of the content-less Roxbury report without reading it first, with members of the RFP committee missing, and no public notice of the meeting? This story just gets weirder all the time, yet no coverage from what is supposedly our primary local news outlet.
AAresident
Sat, Feb 26, 2011 : 1:34 p.m.
I was disappointed also at AA.com's failure to cover the story. I thought of calling Ryan Stanton to ask if he was interested in the story, but haven't done that yet. If AA.com doesn't cover the story, I'll contact Mr. Stanton after the March 3 meeting of Mr. Rapundalo's Library Lot Advisory Committee. Who knows, if Rapundalo has the nerve to show up March 3, he might even announce he's changed his mind about recommending a letter of intent to move ahead on the convention center.
amlive
Fri, Feb 25, 2011 : 10:18 p.m.
Is my math right, that at $50 million (estimated I assume) for 717 parking spaces, this amounts to nearly $70,000 per space? With the average annual cost of operation and average usage and income per space, how long is it projected to take before this project pays for itself?
mikael
Sun, Feb 27, 2011 : 12:32 a.m.
I see your concern, Deb. My opinion is that you can't put a price on a $50,000,000 garage.
deb
Sat, Feb 26, 2011 : 8:17 p.m.
Money should always be a concern. especially when your municipality is running a deficit
mikael
Sat, Feb 26, 2011 : 2:12 a.m.
Money should not be a concern here. This is about providing more options for parking.
Ryan J. Stanton
Fri, Feb 25, 2011 : 6:42 p.m.
@nowayjose — From a previous story linked to in the article: Signs around the site originally declared the 717-space deck would be open in August 2011, but those have been removed. It now is expected to be finished in December 2011 or January 2012 — a shift in schedule that officials attribute to a delay in securing easements at the start of the project. Christman originally wanted to start in October of last year.
nowayjose
Fri, Feb 25, 2011 : 6:13 p.m.
When is this underground garage supose to be completed?
Edward Vielmetti
Fri, Feb 25, 2011 : 6:23 p.m.
@nowayjose, The DDA's project information page is here: <a href="http://www.a2dda.org/current_projects/s_fifth_ave_parking_structure_project/" rel='nofollow'>http://www.a2dda.org/current_projects/s_fifth_ave_parking_structure_project/</a>