Parking Lots B and P on the southern edge of campus will be closed for two months starting on Monday, June 11, to allow construction crews to install a natural gas pipeline that will supply the new student housing complex and dining facility.
While natural gas access is an essential component of the housing complex, the pipeline also will provide an added benefit to the campus.
“This installation is critical to achieving an upgrade to our campus’ overall natural gas infrastructure distribution system,” said Mooris Taylor, the senior project manager of the Student Housing Replacement Project. “This upgrade begins to create a natural gas line service loop, which means that in the unlikely event our primary service from Southern California Gas Co. fails we’ll have a secondary connection.”
Lots B and P will be shut down through Friday, Aug. 10. Crews will remove asphalt and dig several feet to install a 10-inch diameter pipe from the Student Housing Replacement Project site to a Southern California Gas Co. line at Temple Avenue and South Campus Drive.
On June 11 and June 12, faculty and staff parking permits will not be valid in Lot Q. Spaces in Lot Q have been set aside so students can pack up and move out of university housing for the summer. Vehicles without a valid housing parking permit for Lot Q will be ticketed.
When the project starts, barricades will be placed at the entrance of Lots B and P, and only construction vehicles will be allowed access. Campus commuters and visitors who usually park in Lots B and P are urged to use Parking Structure 2, which can accommodate 1,800 cars. The structure also contains 24 charging stations for electric vehicles.
The access road off Kellogg Drive will remain open and allow entry to Lot Q, which will not be affected by the gas line installation. The Department of Facilities Planning, Design & Construction is coordinating the two-month pipeline installation as part of the housing construction project and the upgrading of the gas pipeline infrastructure on campus.
The projected completion date of the pipeline allows for Lots B and P to be reopened in time for Cal Poly Pomona’s first academic year under the semester system, which begins on Aug 23. Work on Lot P is expected to be finished when students begin moving into the Residential Suites on Aug. 19.
The pipeline construction was planned during the summer, when the student population takes a precipitous drop.
The first phase of the $185-million Student Housing Replacement Project consists of two eight-story mid-rise towers containing 980 beds and encompassing 280,000 square feet. A dining commons facility that can accommodate 680 students at a time also is part of the housing complex.