© Tabi Walters

Better late than never

Fifth Ave. will finally open this spring

by James Leonard

posted 2/5/2012

According to the list of street closings on the city's website, Fifth Ave. between Liberty and William reopened the day after Halloween. The Downtown Development Authority website has it carrying traffic in December. So why are drivers still detoured around construction for the underground parking structure next to the Ann Arbor District Library?

The DDA's Susan Pollay blames harsh weather last winter for putting the project behind schedule. She says the last of the structural concrete was poured in late November. Mechanicals like plumbing, electrical, and fire-suppression systems were being installed in January, to be followed by connection of the primary electric service. But it's still unclear exactly when the street, and the structure, will finally open.

"Much of the remaining work includes a great deal of waterproofing, which is temperature and humidity-sensitive, thus making the last phase very weather-impacted," Pollay explains in an email. "Depending on the weather, we are now expecting that the road will be opened early spring and the structure will be open late spring."

Update: after this article was published in the February 2012 Ann Arbor Observer, the city's list of street closures was revised to show Fifth Ave. closed through June 12, 2012.   

[Originally published in February, 2012.]