The new parking arrangement began on June 10 and is predicted to end in about 18 months, according to Director of Parking and Transportation (PT) Robert Kretzer.
During construction, 69 out of 162 spaces will be closed in order to maintain a safe construction boundary. The handicap spaces will remain, but they will be moved to the southern end of the lot to keep a safe path through construction. The faculty and staff will be required to park in Lot 1A which has 135 parking spaces. There will only be only 13 student parking spaces available in Lot 1A, which will be marked accordingly, Kretzer said.
Facilities Planning and Development recommended the location for the faculty parking and it was approved by Parking and Transportation. According to Kretzer, the temporary parking was arranged to benefit of the students.
“We wanted to minimize the disruption of Lot 16 the best we could,” Kretzer said.
Lot 16 is located south of White hall. Many students park in Lot 4 when Lot 1A fills up. Assigning lots to either faculty or students exclusively allows the department to maintain a sense of order in the parking lots, Kretzer said.
Lot 1A will be strictly designated to faculty and staff. Parking violations will be issued to students parked in a faculty space, with the exception of the 13 marked student spaces.
Junior Laynce Yoder, an electrical engineering major, said that the reassigned parking would not be an issue during the summer, but will be hectic come fall semester.
“It’s very frustrating to have to fight for a spot,” Yoder said. “I usually park in Lot 1A because it is closer. I feel like [the change] happened without very much notice.”
According junior Ashley Ferguson, an early childhood education major, there were not enough parking spaces before the construction began.
“I’m glad that we are getting the new building, but the parking is just hard to deal with,” Ferguson said.
Kretzer said students should be patient with the process.
“Be patient, it’s not going to be forever. I can’t stop the construction,” Kretzer said.
The Neuroscience Engineering Collaboration Building is projected for completion in June of 2015, according to Facilities Planning and Development.
