Construction workers have been building the new parking garage and the connecting pedestrian bridge across Southern Avenue during the summer.
Tony Poteet, assistant vice president of campus planning and design, said the project has had no unexpected problems during the summer.
“The project is going great, on schedule and within budget,” Poteet said. “The progress is evident daily as the garage is assembled. Any impacts on parking or traffic will be relayed to all university community members in advance.”
Construction for the project began in April of this year, just before classes ended for the spring semester. The $18.6 million parking garage will include 1,140 parking spots, as previously reported by The Daily Helmsman.
The long-anticipated project has been in the works since 2014 and will give the campus a net increase of 351 parking spaces and a way to get across the railroad tracks while a train is on the tracks.
In an email from president M. David Rudd to all faculty, staff and students, he detailed the exact closures that should be expected.
“The contractor has personnel in place with flags to assist with traffic direction and control in this area,” Rudd said in the email. “Please be aware of your surroundings and drive slowly and carefully in the construction zone.”
In the email, Rudd said Walker Avenue would just have one-lane traffic while the supports for the bridge are built. He also said the sidewalk at the corner of Houston Street and Southern Avenue will be closed.
Construction workers have built part of the parking garage and land bridge during the summer. Students said they can see the progress for themselves along Walker Avenue and Southern Avenue on the south side of campus.
The need for a bridge arose out of students’ issues with the train preventing them from getting to classes. After a Student Government Association bill passed in early 2014, the Uiversity of Memphis took over the project.
The university had originally planned to build the parking garage in October 2016, but the project was delayed for the university to wait for bidding to be approved on construction.
Senior nursing major Hunter Clay said he thinks the bridge is important not only for student expediency getting to class but also for student safety.
“It’s huge,” Clay said. “I think the land bridge is a great idea. I remember way back when they had that incident when people were jumping over the train. That will probably save some lives. I just wish it would be done now.”
Junior sports managment major Marquis Walker said he has been caught by the train many times, and the bridge would help him get to class when he cannot be late.
“I’m excited about the land bridge,” Walker said. “I prefer to park on that side (south side) of campus anyway because most of our classes are on this side.”
Walker said the train seems to only catches him when he needs to get on campus quickly.
“As soon as you need to be somewhere in five minutes, the train comes,” Walker said.
This project will be immediately followed by construction for the new recreation center the university approved around the same time.
