Infrastructure Services

• What parking spaces around Wilson Hall will be open and when? 
  
  

• Will the parking plan change?
  Yes. As IERC and construction begins and PIP-II construction progresses, changes will be required to the parking and traffic plan. Parking changes will be communicated via Fermilab Today. This page will also be updated regularly as changes happen.
• Will parking lots outside of the Wilson Hall area be impacted?
  Yes. We anticipate increased usage of the Lederman Science Center parking lot and the overflow lot across from IARC.
• What is the lab doing to help the parking situation?
  What is the lab doing to help the parking situation? Earlier this year, the lab organized a working group to develop and evaluate additional parking considerations. The team is currently proposing to construct a new parking area just north of the A0 lot and overhauling the area around reflecting pond to allow for paved, angled parking. Funding for this project has not yet been approved.
  
• What will the traffic pattern look like around WH during IERC construction?
  The traffic pattern is still being finalized by the General Contractor that will be performing the construction. The current pattern being proposed is as follows
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• What were the alternatives considered?
  The working group evaluated a number of alternatives (e.g., parking garage, new parking areas, etc.). The group evaluated the alternatives against the following criteria: viability, safety, feasibility, accessibility, and cost. The current proposed solution rated highest among these criteria.
• How do we access Wilson Hall from the east side?
  The main east entrance on the ground floor of Wilson Hall will be closed during construction. Access to the building on the east-side ground floor will be available further south near the loading dock doors.
• Will bicycle and motorcycle parking still be available on the east part of Wilson Hall?
  No. These parking areas will be transitioned to the west side of Wilson Hall pending funding availability.
• What are the reserved parking spaces going to be?
  Selected reserved parking spaces have been identified and can be shown here.
• Can we just gravel some of the grassy areas in the interim in anticipation for the paved parking lots?
  Gravel lots provide challenges in inclement weather. Specifically, they are difficult to maintain (e.g., unable to plow when snowfall, muddy/sinking during rain, etc.) which may introduce new safety hazards (e.g., increase probability for slips, trips, and falls).
• Will parking on the grass be allowed?
  No. Parking is only allowed in designated parking areas. Additionally, parking in grassy areas may introduce additional safety hazards.
• Could we convert the parking around the reflecting pond to angled parking to increase parking density?
  The current usable area of the gravel area around the parking lot does not allow for angled parking. Additionally, it is challenging to put striped lines to designate the angled parking in gravel areas. Without striping, having “driver defined” angled-parking may introduce additional safety hazards (e.g., increasing probability for traffic accidents).
• Can the lab have a coordinated teleworking policy to reduce parking demand?
  The telework policy provides specific criteria for employees to be eligible for telework. Having a coordinated telework schedule for all lab employees was evaluated to not be feasible. The lab does encourage each employee to discuss telework schedules with their supervisor.
• It sounds like it may be challenging to travel to Wilson Hall from other areas of the lab for meetings.
  We do anticipate that it may be more challenging than in the past. You are encouraged to use the lab’s shuttle service or carpool with co-workers. All meeting leaders/coordinators are strongly encouraged to use Zoom for meetings so participants can join remotely.
• Why not have the parking shuttles run a continuous loop for remote lots?
  There is not currently an exhibited need for remote parking as the current parking requirements are being met by the existing Wilson Hall lots.  This will be monitored and if in the future the need for a fixed route shuttle is identified a schedule will be developed and instituted
• Can we park along the main ring road?
  No. Parking along the main ring road would constrict traffic on this road which is expected to have more use during construction activities for PIP-II and IERC.
• Could the parking lot be segregated by division/section (i.e., each division would have a specified number and location of spots)?
  This alternative was considered by the group; however, it was evaluated with a low score since it does not fully solve the overall parking shortage.
• Will the lab provide any incentives for car-pooling?
  At this time, the lab does not have any incentives to reward car-pooling.
• Why doesn’t the IERC project replace the parking it is taking out?
  The IERC project is expected to create new parking areas where the east reflecting pond is located; however, this part of the project is not expected to be completed until 2022.
• Why can we not park in the lot during construction?
  During construction, a General Contractor takes over responsibility of the area. For safety reasons, no parking will be allowed during construction.  Additionally, much of the parking lot will be demolished for utility work or for construction of the IERC building itself.
• Why can’t the parking come first in the IERC project?
  The area that will eventually become the new parking lot will be used by the General Contractor as space for material laydown, construction trailers, and worker parking. To limit the contractor’s access to this area during construction would be cost and schedule prohibitive. Additionally, even if they were to construct parking areas early, the area would still be under the General Contractor’s responsibility which would restrict regular access for safety reasons.
• Will the pedestrian bridge still be available to travel from the lot near A0 to Wilson Hall?
  At the first phase part of the site prep construction, this bridge will not be available. However, the first part of the IERC project is to construct a berm roadway from the A0 parking lot to the east area of Wilson Hall. This roadway will be pedestrian friendly to allow for access from the A0 parking lot to Wilson Hall.
• Why is the lab only now proposing for a new parking lot (i.e., shouldn’t this have been done years ago due to the lead time of proposing funding, designing, and construction)?
  Considering other laboratory priorities, additional parking hasn’t typically been scored as a high enough priority for receipt of funding. The past few years have been a transformational time in the history of the lab. As a result, funding for some of the larger projects became available earlier than expected. This proved to be challenging for scheduling and executing projects. The lab is restructuring several internal processes to try to prevent similar occurrences in the future, but funding availability with any certainty is always one of the unknown variables. The IERC will replace the parking it displaces, but this won’t come until the end of the project. In the interim, the lab is aware of the current challenge and is working to minimize the impact; however, we appreciate everyone’s patience and understanding as we work through this challenge.
• Has the lab considered allowing parking along the other side(s) of the road by the reflecting pool? Those two lanes would add a significant number of parking spots (about 22 per side)… At least the one by the large pool would be very safe, as it already has a wide gravel lane allowing the entire roadway to remain clear.
  The lab has considered parking along the other side(s) of the road leading up to Wilson Hall.  The challenge is that though the road may be wide enough to allow parking on both sides and allow a “normal” car to continue to travel through, it is not wide a enough to allow parking on both sides and to allow delivery or construction vehicles to travel through. 
• Has the committee thought about having a shuttle that runs only from LSC to Wilson Hall  during the morning rush hours between 8-9 and afternoon rush 4-5.  Per the schedule, it seems that the shuttle only comes for LSC at 8:07 and then  at 9:28.   For people who start work at 8:30 at WH our only option is too walk.  Right now that seems fine, but in the colder months  that may not be practical especially if you have a disability. 
  With the widespread adoption of Telework there is not currently an exhibited need for a shuttle to be made available to individuals.  If this changes in the future and the need exists a fixed route shuttle will be developed and instituted. 
• What is being done to preserve a safe walking path between Wilson Hall and FCC/IARC during the IERC construction?  This path is used by many people each day, and using the taxi service is not an option if attending a meeting, since the arrival time is so variable.  Plus with the new taxi schedule if you take the taxi to a 3pm meeting, you have no way to come back at 4pm other than walking. The path between Wilson Hall and FCC/IARC will be relocated around the construction site starting next week.  Once this rerouted path is in place the general contractor will fence off the construction site and close the section of path thru the site. 
• Will the temporary path be paved or gravel? Gravel. 
• What’s the impact to the horseshoe parking? At this time, there is no expected impact to the reserved spaces in the horseshoe.  
• Could we also consider the Feynman lot for overflow parking? There is not currently an exhibited need for overflow or remote parking.  The shuttle will run via an on-call basis between the hours of 7:30am and 3:30pm by contacting (630)840-4225. 
• Are there any considerations being made for increasing the expectant mother and car pooling reserved spaces?  We are looking into the expectant mother parking.  The challenge is enforcing this with a limited security force is difficult; therefore, we are mainly reliant on the honor system for people parking in these spots.  Unfortunately, many staff are choosing to park in these spots inappropriately.  We have received numerous complaints of people parking in these designated spots that are neither pregnant nor carpooling.  We will look into separating the expectant mother parking, but we will still be largely reliant on people honoring the signage. 

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