New parking lots located on Hill Drive, designated for students with commuter parking passes and Rebel Drive, designated for faculty and staff are open as of last week.
The new student parking lot adds 71 additional parking spaces, with the intention of lightening the load for other parking locations around campus.
“Any parking helps, and these will certainly do that,” Mike Harris, director of parking and transportation, said. “We have available parking on campus; however, it, at times, is not as conveniently located as some would like.”
Two new lots have opened on campus to alleviate some campus parking problems. (Photo by: Royce Swayze)
Adding additional parking locations for students and staff alike is a part of the University’s overall Transportation Demand Management plan which includes factors such as parking, buses, bikes and better pedestrian areas.
The location and size of each lot is decided based on a variety of elements to ensure maximum convenience for students and economy for the University.
“We have several departments which contribute to where parking is placed on campus,” Harris said. “It goes through a planning process and many different factors are looked at, from underground utilities to proximity to thoroughfares.”
However, despite recent efforts to accommodate for lack of parking on campus, some students still feel the University has failed to accommodate for the recent influx of students and their vehicles.
Sophomore Courtney Brown lives off campus this year and uses a commuter pass to be able to park on campus.
“There are so many people. It’s hard to say (the new lots will help),” Brown said. “It’s is going to get filled up really quickly anyways, so it’s probably not going to help me.”
Harris is well aware of this popular mindset, but ultimately feels student complaints will always be an issue when it comes to parking and transportation on campus.
“I have been in parking for many years, and complaints are part of the business,” Harris said. “There will always be complaints unless we could park everyone at the building they want to be at. Our goal is to minimize the complaints as much as possible by offering as many parking and transportation options as possible.”
