PJ Village Breaks Ground on Barnum Ave Lot
The long awaited Barnum Parking lot finally has shovels in the ground.
Crews started digging up the trees and other shrubs at the corner of Caroline Avenue and Barnum Avenue Aug. 25. The full construction process is expected to take around two months, weather permitting.
The new parking lot includes 46 new spaces oriented diagonally. There is planned to be a one-way ingress and egress onto Caroline Avenue. The site plans show the 32,000-square-foot lot will also include two bioswales bordering the entrance onto Barnum Avenue to aid in flood mitigation. The bioswales will look like two dips in the ground with plantings overlaying them.
The village also plans to include two electric vehicle charging stations just like the two currently in the parking lot next to Rocketship Park. Costs for the charging are paid by the vehicle owner through the Chargepoint app.
Parking and Mobility Administrator Kevin Wood said there will be screening in the form of thick bushes on the south side that will line the entire parking area facing south.
“We are also working on a design that will let the parker know how many spots are available before they even drive into the lot via a small digital system,” Wood said.
The $814,069 project is funded in part by $200,000 in Suffolk County Jumpstart grant money. The rest comes from a $300,000 bond and $314,069 in parking funds set aside for this project.
In February, Connecticut-based F&F Concrete won the bid against five other companies to create the new parking lot.
