Construction near Welcome Center re-routes traffic and parking
D ue to construction by the Dearborn Public Schools to renovate a former SME building to create a new space for the Early College, we will need to close one of the main vehicle entrances and some of the parking at the Welcome Center through mid-summer 2024. The Welcome Center will remain fully open and will continue serving students and our community throughout the project.
The project will include required stormwater work and will create a new bus loop in front of the new Early College building.
Update, July 30
The permanent pedestrian walkway has been completed. This will allow removal of temporary asphalt walkway. Pedestrians, please continue to follow the cones/tape until everything is fully in place.
As for the parking area, the paving crew will have the remaining stone in place and expects to pave the full parking area by August 9. The new parking lot entrance to the Welcome Center from the HFC perimeter drive is expected to be completed around the same date. Once this is completed, students, visitors, and employees will be able to use either SME Drive or the perimeter drive to access the Welcome Center.
Please note that the previous entrance to the Welcome Center from the perimeter drive will be a restricted, buses-only driveway. Please do not attempt to enter the Welcome Center through this restricted driveway, as it will put you into a bus-loop-only area. There will be no parking, and no access to parking, from the restricted bus-loop driveway.
Signage for the new perimeter drive parking entrances is underway. We will also provide a schematic of these driveway areas on this webpage. Meanwhile, please bear with us during the final couple of weeks of the outdoor construction phase of this project.
Update, June 2024
Below is a sequence of construction-related events from now through late July. Please see the map below for a visual representation of these events:
Vehicle (automobile and truck) traffic and parking
In April, the vehicle entrance from the campus perimeter drive (North Entrance) to the Welcome Center parking lots was permanently closed. A new perimeter drive vehicle entrance will be created at the Southeast corner of the current parking area at the conclusion of the project.
From now through late July, all vehicle traffic to and from the Welcome Center will be through SME Drive only.
All parking spaces in the parking lot East and Southeast of the Welcome Center will be closed throughout this project. All parking spaces North and Northeast of the Welcome Center are open and accessible from SME Drive.
At the conclusion of the project, the East and Southeast parking areas will reopen, and the new vehicle entrance from the perimeter drive will open.
Pedestrian (foot, wheelchair, bicycle, cart) traffic
A new pedestrian walkway has re-routed pedestrian traffic away from the former pedestrian walkway, which bypasses the closed vehicle entrance and parking area.
A permanent pedestrian walkway will be constructed at the end of the project. We will provide additional details later.
Please avoid the construction area
To help the construction personnel and provide greater safety for everyone, please stay away from the edges of the construction area. Construction barrels and hurricane fencing are in place. We ask that you remain within the designated vehicle and pedestrian access areas throughout the construction project.
Thank you for your cooperation. We apologize for any inconvenience caused by this project. Questions? contact communications@hfcc.edu
How the finished parking and access will work by mid-August
