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 handicapped spaces and installs infrastructure for up to four electric‑vehicle charging stations in the future. The city will install benches and interpretive signage describing the stormwater features.

How construction will be phased and how long it could take

SUR Construction outlined five phases. Andy LePage said the phasing is intended to keep parts of the lot open as long as possible: “we will leave as much pavement in the first phase of construction,” and he said there will be a minimum of about 20 parking spaces available during early work. LePage said phase durations are approximate: phase 2 is “approximately another 2 weeks,” a later phase that includes most earthwork and full closure for accelerated paving is the period when the lot will be largely closed to the public, phase 4 could last about four weeks, and the final cleanup and striping (phase 5) is about a week. LePage told attendees SUR would “mobilize a week from today.”

Access, deliveries and parking enforcement during construction

City staff said access for deliveries, garbage trucks and the neighboring Howard building will be maintained; flaggers and signage will direct traffic. Work hours were stated as 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, with most Fridays finishing by about 3:30 p.m. The city plans to enforce the existing two‑hour customer parking limit (typically 9 a.m.–5 p.m.) in the lot during construction to reserve spaces for customers.

Temporary parking and permits

Staff said the 60 Wakefield (Ben Franklin) lot will be available as an alternate parking area with fewer restrictions during construction. The city is developing a permit and pay‑to‑park program for downtown lots; staff estimated implementation “sometime next year” and said the reconstructed Union Street lot would likely remain time‑gated, with pay options via app, kiosk or text. Staff said paid enforcement would not apply after about 7 p.m.

Waste collection and dumpster corrals

The plan centralizes dumpsters into corrals in the lot’s center. Mike said the city will lease dumpsters from Waste Management and charge users; the precise cost‑split and pickup frequency were not finalized. Staff said the current working assumption is one scheduled pickup per week for most containers, with the possibility of more frequent pickups if containers fill faster.

Security and other operational details

City staff said a previous proposal for emergency call boxes with cameras was not advanced after consultation with police; the decision not to install cameras was described as related to anticipated false alarms and monitoring concerns. Staff emphasized that lighting and sightlines will be improved as part of the redesign.

Contract schedule and contractual provisions

Meeting presenters said SUR’s contract includes liquidated damages tied to substantial completion; presenters identified substantial completion as mid‑November and said the parking lot must be usable at that point, with a punch list for remaining items. No formal vote or council action occurred at the meeting; contractors and staff said they would return to the commission and council as needed on permitting and enforcement policy.

Community questions and follow up

Downtown business owners raised concerns about dust control (contractors said they will use water trucks, calcium and asphalt staging to limit dust), maintaining access for deliveries, dumpster access and pickup frequency, and advance notices for phase changes. Staff said they will assemble an email distribution list and send the presentation PDF to attendees and that the meeting was being recorded for GOV TV.

The city provided contact cards at the meeting for the downtown point person and asked attendees to sign up for email updates.

Ending

City staff and the contractors encouraged attendees to sign up for email updates, and said project materials and the recorded meeting would be available after the session. The city plans to maintain regular communication with downtown property owners and businesses as the phases progress.