Construction of a new storm drainage system and other utility improvements on the CU-Boulder campus will require a change in driving patterns for students, faculty, staff and visitors beginning April 1.
Construction is expected to last from April to late August, when fall semester classes begin.
Improvements to storm drainage along Colorado Avenue will begin at the intersection of Colorado Avenue and Folsom Street, move west on Colorado past Muenzinger Psychology and then south along 18th Street. The project will end at 18th Street and Euclid Avenue in front of the Imig Music building.
Although the streets will remain passable during construction, traffic will be limited to one way, one lane at a time. Traffic restrictions on the streets, which cut through campus and link the east campus to Broadway, will be determined by the contractor in collaboration with the Facilities Management department, according to Michael Martens, project manager.
The contractor is TIC of Steamboat Springs, pending outcome of a bid appeal by another contractor. TIC, which stands for The Industrial Company, won the contract with a bid of $1.24 million.
The bid amount includes a second project involving repairs to a portion of the campus steam distribution system near the campus Power Plant and the Environmental Design and Imig Music buildings.
Although the storm drainage project will be disruptive and messy, requiring a 20-foot-deep trench surrounded by safety fencing, it will provide critical
improvements to existing storm drainage, Martens said. Drainage piping will be installed along the 2,400-foot section of street, and a planter and traffic peninsula in front of the music college on 18th Street will be reconstructed.
Access to parking lots -- at Folsom Stadium, Duane Physics, Libby Hall and the Mathematics Building -- will remain open. However, no on-street parking will be allowed in construction areas.
The HOP bus service will be rerouted onto Regent Drive beginning April 1 and the Williams Village buses will undergo routing changes to accommodate construction, Martens said.
Some pedestrian and bike routes also will be detoured around the construction site for safety.
Other construction projects, valued at about $1 million, also will be completed in conjunction with the storm drainage and steam improvements, pending funding approvals. They include:
聲 Two raised crosswalks, one south of the stadium at Duane Physics and another on the curve at Colorado Avenue and 18th Street. Both currently are street-level crosswalks.
聲 Rerouting of sanitary sewer lines by the City of Boulder at the Environmental Design building, the Power Plant and JILA, into 18th Street and Colorado Avenue.
聲 Installation of chilled water supply and return lines from the Power Plant extending into Folsom Stadium Plaza.
聲 Improvements to sanitary sewer and water lines at the Power Plant in conjunction with the City of Boulder.
聲 Relocation of the water main from the MCDB Biology building to the information booth on Colorado Avenue near the stadium.
Additional information on construction projects is available by calling Myles Hayashi at 492-3492 or on the Facilities Management campus construction site at on the World Wide Web.