Construction of two new campus bus shelters and renovations to a popular parking lot are set to begin this summer.
UF's Student Traffic Court will provide the $156,400 for the new bus-stop shelters and the $282,600 for resurfacing the large Commuter parking lot behind Hume Hall. The money comes from a fund collected from student traffic violations and appeals.
Scott Fox, director of UF's Parking and Transportation Services, said he hopes the projects would be ready by the start of fall classes. Construction should start in June or July, Fox said.
A new shelter will replace the simple bus-stop marker near the Microbiology and Cell Science building on Museum Road, across the street from the Lakeside Residential Complex.
The second shelter will be an upgrade of the outdated structure on the Commuter lot, Fox said.
Upgrades to the bus stops were recommended in 2005, but plans were put on hold for more pressing tasks, Fox said. The new shelters are among the most expensive projects on the list of shelter-renovation priorities, he added.
The Commuter lot pavement will receive a complete makeover during the summer, he said. The lot currently has surface cracks, loose concrete and several depressions.
The first absolute surface treatment in two decades will increase the lot's longevity, but it won't create more parking spaces, he said.
The lot holds up to 1,064 cars.
Ryan Mezzell, the Student Traffic Court's chief justice, said the lot's summer construction would be done in segments so families visiting during Preview and UF students will be able to use some of the lot at all times.
Fox said he expects to have construction and alternative parking plans in place later this month.
