With the work on the stadium side of North Avenue almost complete, Facilities is moving full steam ahead with completing the same upgrades to the other side of the road.  

“Unfortunately, we couldn’t wait until after football season to complete the work,” said Frank Lamia, associate director of Construction Services. “We didn’t want to pull the contractor off the project, because it would increase costs and delay completion.”

Currently, the construction is impacting the sidewalk between Luckie Street (at the Hampton Inn) and Burge Parking Deck and includes the following improvements:         

• Sidewalks will be reconstructed to match the campus standards outlined in the Campus Landscape Master Plan.
• The utilities will be moved underground to protect them and improve appearance.
• New trees will be planted.
• New street and pedestrian lighting will be installed to match campus standards outlined in the master plan.

Unlike the utility work on the north side of North Avenue, which was completed at night, all utility work on the south side will be completed from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., so be prepared for lane closures.

“The logic behind the utility work being done at night was that the Georgia Power lines had to be relocated under North Avenue, so the Georgia Department of Transportation made Georgia Power complete this work at night,” Lamia said.

Once the work is completed, from Luckie to Burge, the section of the sidewalk from Burge to the Alumni/Faculty House will receive the same upgrades.

“In order to do this work, we need to take sections of the sidewalk out of service,” Lamia said. “We think that the way we are doing it is the least disruptive to the campus community.”

Since the North Avenue project began, Facilities and Parking and Transportation have worked together to communicate closures and other information to customers parking in affected lots and will continue to do so until the work is completed, said Torise Battle, communications officer in the Department of Parking and Transportation.

The sidewalk work on the south side of the street and the tree planting and improvements to street lighting on the north side should be complete by late December (see the article on page 3 for more information about tree care and planting on campus).

In addition, North Avenue will be repaved from Luckie to Centennial Olympic Park Drive, a HAWK pedestrian traffic signal will be installed in the crosswalk in front of the Alumni/Faculty House and other electrical and traffic signal work will be completed by the end of February.
In addition to the work on North Avenue, Georgia Power is also relocating power lines from overhead to underground on 10th Street between Cherry Street (Tennis Center) and I-75 access road.

The eastbound southern lane of Tenth Street will be closed during construction work hours (9 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays and on some nonfootball game Saturdays), so take alternative routes to avoid delays, Lamia said.

The 10th Street work should be complete by early February.

For more information about these projects, contact Lamia.