Parking on the south side of University Village has become a bit tight but the end result will be even more parking. Temporary construction fencing has gone up while trees and shrubs have come down next to the 45th Street Viaduct. The shopping center hopes to have a new 700 space parking garage put up by late 2012.

Find out more: www.uvillage.com/blog36/.

The Seattle Department of Transportation is still working to repair the 15th Avenue NE Bridge over Cowen Park. The southbound right lane will be closed from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. until Feb. 3, except on Monday, Jan. 30.

Crews are using an under bridge inspection truck to repair areas where concrete has broken away.

You can score some free shrubs this coming weekend, but you’ll have to do the grunt work. Sound Transit is giving away plants and other landscaping materials where they’re going to be tearing down buildings at the sites of the future light rail stations at Brooklyn Avenue NE and in the Roosevelt neighborhoods.

Most of the plants at the Brooklyn Avenue site are small shrubs like Barberry, Nandia and Boxwood. They will be available on a first-come first-served basis from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, Jan. 28. You will need to bring your own tools such as shovels, pots and gloves and will have to remove the plants and haul them away yourself.

The Seattle Times is reporting that the home furnishings chain Room and Board will be taking over most of the space vacated by Barnes and Noble at University Village.

From the Times:

Room & Board, of Golden Valley, Minn., will take 27,000 square feet on the second floor — or a little more than half of the space formerly occupied by Barnes & Noble. U-Village has not said what will become of the rest of the space.

Update: The Puget Sound Clean Air Agency lifted the burn ban at 10 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 14.

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It’s time to douse your plans for a warm winter fire. The Puget Sound Clean Air Agency has issued a burn ban for King County from now until further notice.

A burn ban means that you can’t light a fire in fireplaces or uncertified wood stoves (unless they’re the only heat source in your home). Outdoor fires are also part of the ban.

The clean air agency says the ban is needed because a high pressure weather system over Puget Sound comes with cold air and very little wind. The agency expects air quality to deteriorate at least through Friday.

Classes at the Experimental College’s winter quarter start up on Tuesday, January 17. This quarter offers 88 classes in the U-District with about half of those on the UW campus.

Classes are open to the general public and cover a wide range of topics including languages, dance and martial arts.

You can find more information and register on the college website at www.exco.org.

SDOT crews plan to continue work on the historic 15th Avenue NE bridge over Cowen Park a week after next. Starting this week, crews began closing the southbound right lane over the bridge so they could use an crane-like truck called an under bridge inspection truck.

The crews are repairing spots of broken away concrete beneath the bridge. They will skip a week before getting back to the project Jan. 17 – 20 between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.

SDOT will close one southbound lane of the 15th Avenue NE bridge over Cowen Park from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. January 3 through January 6 for repairs. The bridge is located between Cowen Place NE and NE 62nd Street.

Three Good to Go! workers set drivers up with accounts at the University Heights Community Center parking lot

Tolling on the SR 520 bridge begins in just one week. If you are looking for a quick and easy place to pick up a Good To Go! card, you can always swing by the University Heights Community Center during weekdays. WSDOT set up a booth in the north parking lot to sign people up. Because the tolling is done using sensors and cameras while your car speeds along, A Good to Go! account gives you the cheapest toll rate. Otherwise the department has to use an image of your license plate to track down your address and send you a bill.

Buses could get more crowded

If you’re a bus rider, be ready for more people on the bus once tolling begins. WSDOT predicts that many drivers will opt for transit rather than pay a toll. That also means park-and-ride lots will fill up earlier. On the flip-side, if you don’t mind paying the toll, the trip is likely be much quicker if significant numbers of toll avoiders take the bus or use I-90.

If you were near Husky Stadium today, you may have heard the incredible sound of the south stadium overhang crashing down:

It’s all part of the ongoing demolition of much of the facility to make way for a new $250 million stadium, which is scheduled to reopen in summer of 2013.

You can keep track of the work at the stadium via these live webcams.