Parking lot renovation begins
- July 5, 2011
After years of deferred maintenance, several CSUEB parking lots will soon get a much-needed makeover with repairs as well as safety and landscaping upgrades that will include replacing existing trees and shrubs. On July 18, Facilities Management began renovating parking lots F, G, H, N and P on the east side of the Hayward campus and lots N and P on the Concord campus. The project is expected to be completed by the start of fall quarter.
“The parking lots are in rough shape right now,” said Chris Brown, deputy vice president of Enterprise Operations and Facilities Management. “When the project is done, we’re going to have safe, well maintained and attractive parking facilities.”
Due to a lack of funding, the parking lots have received little maintenance over the years. However, the recently adopted parking fee structure has provided funding to build a parking structure in addition to doing proper parking lot maintenance, he added. The project will be financed completely by the parking fund.
Additionally, many of the trees are either dead or at the end of their life cycle. Several existing pines with shallow root systems that spread near the surface have lifted the asphalt up to 16 inches in places, creating a safety hazard.
To combat these problems, trees and plants in the parking lots will be replaced with species better suited to parking lots and the campus environment, including Chinese pistache and red oak trees. Drought-resistant Chinese pistache, which sport red and orange foliage in the fall, will be used for the inner islands. They are commonly used in urban settings. Red oaks, another hearty street tree providing plenty of shade, will be planted on the perimeter islands.
Energy efficient plasma lights that can last up to 40,000 hours each will be installed within the lots. By comparison, an average incandescent light bulb lasts up to 2,000 hours. Plasma lighting will provide improved nighttime visibility as well as substantial energy savings, Brown said.
Construction and renovation have been planned to mitigate as many issues as possible, he noted, however, as with any large project there will undoubtedly be some inconvenience during construction. Additional details regarding timelines and sequencing were released July 13.