Construction begins today on a new six-story campus parking structure to be located in Lot 22, adjacent to the Events Center.

For the next 16 months, construction of the $20 million garage – which will include 1,052 new spaces – will close the northbound lanes of Ocean Road between Lot 23 and Lot 22. Traffic will be rerouted onto the road’s southbound lanes. In addition, the bike path between the Events Center and Lot 22 will be moved farther east to accommodate excavation of the site.

The bike path that connects Isla Vista to campus through the Pardall Road tunnel will remain open, but the sidewalk that runs north to south between the Events Center and Lot 22 will be closed within the next two weeks and remain so until further notice.

UCSB Transportation and Parking Services has compiled data showing that there is a surplus of parking on the west end of campus, which should accommodate demand despite spaces being lost due to the new lot’s construction. However, if demand for spaces exceeds availability, TPS will begin stacked parking at several lots on the west side of campus.