Rochester to rebuild Union Street parking lot, add stormwater treatment; contractors to mobilize next week

City of Rochester staff and the project contractors told downtown business owners at a public meeting that they will begin mobilizing a week after the meeting to rebuild the Union Street parking lot, a phased project the city expects to reach substantial completion by mid‑November.

Mike, the city’s downtown point person, opened the meeting and said he would “act as the point person for downtown.” Steve Reichardt, project manager for Fussen O'Neil, and Andy LePage, project manager for SUR Construction, presented design details and the contractor phasing plan.

The project purpose and why it matters

City staff said the redesign is intended both to modernize the lot and to reduce untreated stormwater runoff to the river. Reichardt said the work follows an EPA “Greening America’s Communities” study and a settlement with the Conservation Law Foundation that led the city to improve stormwater treatment citywide. Reichardt said, “I’ve been involved with this project since we started working on the design back in 2021.”

What’s being built

Design elements shown to the public include two planted bioretention areas and tree pits to treat stormwater, a reconfigured pedestrian loop around the lot, and new centralized dumpster corrals. The existing lot contains 97 spaces; the new design increases capacity to 99 spaces, adds five…