UCSD’s Campus Architect Joel King announced the construction of a new East Campus Parking Structure in an email to university affiliates on Oct. 29. The parking structure will host 1,200 new parking spaces and will be built atop Lot P756.
Construction officially began on Nov. 1 and is expected to last until Dec. 1 of next year.
Director of Auxiliary Business Services Robert Holden told the UCSD Guardian that UCSD is building the new parking structure to replace the surface lot spaces that are being lost to construction.
“All surface lots are designated as building sites,” Holden said. “As buildings are added, the campus loses available parking. This structure is to address the impact of the new buildings that have been built and are being built on East Campus.”
Holden told the Guardian that the new structure is being built to incorporate energy storage and to maximize efficiency. The lighting will be LED, but the design will allow the structure to capture existing light, which will decrease the need for additional light during the day.
Though the construction of the new structure will cost $25 million, it was specifically modeled to be self-sufficient. Patient and visitor fees alone will cover the costs, and students fees will not be affected at all.
The structure will only replace existing patient, visitor and staff parking. Thus, it will have no impact on student spaces, even during construction.
While Lot P756 will be permanently closed for the duration of construction, the university will relocate its “A” and “ADA” parking spaces to Lot P760 and Lot P751, respectively, and Lot P760’s “B” spaces to Lot P783. The construction zone will absorb a row of parking spaces in Lot P703 as well.
During construction, UCSD will narrow Health Sciences Drive to two lanes. Flagmen will be present to keep public traffic from entering the construction staging area and will provide direction to construction vehicles.
UCSD is also going to close the sidewalk and stairs on the north side of Health Sciences Drive. Pedestrians, however, will be able to travel on a new staircase located at the intersection of Voigt Drive and Health Sciences Drive which leads to the south side of Health Sciences Drive.
Additionally, UCSD will close the sidewalk in front of Lot P756 on the east side of Medical Center Drive, which will require pedestrians to use the west sidewalk along Medical Center Drive.
Bicyclists will have to share the road with vehicle traffic as UCSD will remove the dedicated bike lanes.
UCSD will relocate the SuperLoop bus stop that is currently on the east side of Medical Center Drive to the north side of Medical Center Drive near the corner of Campus Point Drive.
