Work on structural repairs – currently the upper level – to the Spring Street municipal parking garage are under way, Princeton officials announced.
Contractor Maarv Waterproofing began work July 10, Assistant Municipal Engineer James Purcell said. The contractor was awarded a $1.1 million contract for the job by the Princeton Council in May.
During the repairs, the contractor will close off 100 parking spaces at a time – 50 parking spaces in the area where work is being done, and 50 parking spaces on the parking level below it – for 24 hours.
The 50 parking spaces below the work area are being closed off to avoid damage to vehicles that would have been parked there, in case chunks of concrete fall from the ceiling, Purcell said.
The Princeton Parking Authority said the 480-space municipal parking garage operates at full capacity typically only on Saturdays for about a half-hour, Deputy Administrator Deanna Stockton wrote to the Mayor (Mark Freda) and Princeton Council in a May 4 memorandum.
“We have contacted Palmer Square Management and determined there is sufficient capacity at most times in the (privately owned) Chambers Street garage to accommodate those displaced customers,” Stockton wrote.
“Visitors will be directed to the private Chambers Street parking garage when the Spring Street municipal parking garage is full.”
The repair project calls for concrete repairs, joint sealant replacement, drain replacement and the installation of new drains, officials said. Parking spaces will be re-striped.
The Spring Street municipal parking garage was built in the early 2000s as part of a municipal redevelopment project, Stockton wrote in the May 4 memorandum, noting officials had retained an engineering consultant to assess the garage conditions in 2016 and 2017.
The consultant updated the earlier report in 2020, and also developed construction documents for the project, which is the first structural repair program for the Spring Street municipal parking garage, Stockton wrote.
The repair materials are temperature-dependent, and that is why the work is being done during warmer weather.
The project was delayed until after Princeton University reunions and graduation, Stockton wrote. Work is expected to be completed before the holidays in November and December.
