The number of parking
permits sold to students will most likely decrease in the spring semester
due to several on-campus construction projects, said Barry D. Sauls,
director of the University Parking and Traffic Department.
The new library project, which is expected to begin
construction in March 2003, and the Turchin Center project, already
underway, is leaving the east side of campus depleted of parking areas.
“These two projects are going to cause about
300 spaces to be lost,” said Sauls.
The Whitener parking lot, located adjacent to Whitener Hall, will
be completely closed off when library construction begins, forcing
faculty and staff to find somewhere else to park.
“Closing [Whitener] is going to be a real problem for the faculty
and staff who park there,” said Jane P. Helm, vice chancellor
for business affairs. “They’ll just have to get bumped to
a lesser convenient area until everyone is accommodated.”
“Some faculty may have to park at Broyhill [Inn and Conference
Center] and take the bus down to campus like students,” said
Sauls.
In an effort to open up more spaces, the University Parking and Traffic
Department most likely will not be selling as many permits to students
as they did for the fall semester, said Sauls. These permits will
probably include those to the Stadium, Greenwood, South and Hill Street
lots.
“At the end of the [fall] semester, we will lose some students
to graduation and some will probably transfer,” said Sauls. “At
that point, we will have to evaluate where we are and decide how many
permits to sell.”
Other changes will soon take place in an attempt to alleviate the
imminent parking squeeze.
Graduate assistants will no longer be able to use the Raley and Legends
parking lots, opening up approximately 200 free spaces, which will
be provided for faculty and staff use.
This will force graduate assistants to park in the Stadium or Greenwood
lots or consider purchasing a spot in the parking deck, where there
are still a number of spaces available.
“As of [last Wednesday], we had sold nearly 500 spots in the
deck,” said Helm.
This leaves between 100-200 spots remaining that are available to
purchase, depending on how many spaces are reserved for permanent
hourly/visitor parking.
“If I was a freshman, I would certainly consider the deck as
an option,” said Helm. “State Farm can often be inconvenient.”
Student parking will be equally affected by the forthcoming parking
situation as faculty and staff are moved into what were formerly solely
student lots.
Overflow for students who park in Stadium will be the Greenwood and
South lots, and if necessary, the Hill Street lot.
“It’s just going to be real interesting—we’re
going to have GAs overflowing into Stadium, faculty parking in the
streets—it will be hard for awhile.”
In the last two years, over 1,000 parking spaces have been created
through the construction of the parking deck, and the Greenwood and
Hill Street lots.
With the parking deck being a financially unrealistic option for many
students, however, the parking situation will continue to be an issue
on campus.
“This year will be hard on many,” said Sauls. “It will
take a little adjustment on everyone’s part. |
