By Dennis O’Neil

As the fall semester rolls along, University of Louisville students still contend with one of Belknap campus’ most frustrating attributes: parking. After welcoming its largest freshman class in history, U of L’s problem is here to stay.

In fact, a 2007 survey by Commuter Student Services revealed that parking was by far the biggest problem among commuters.

“Parking has always been the number one complaint I have heard from commuter students,” Commuter Student Services director Barbara King said. “In our survey, we got many different comments about how students wish it could be improved.”

Some students have complained that the lack of parking spaces can affect their class attendance. “A lot of it depends on when you have class,” senior English major Chris Bratcher said. “When I have gotten to campus around eight or nine in the morning, it has been very difficult to find a good space. I have often been late to class as a result.”

It is no mystery why U of L is under such parking strain: there are 11,875 parking passes issued and only 11,174 spaces available.

Vice President for Business Affairs Larry Owsley acknowledged many of the parking difficulties and said the university is looking to improve the situation many different ways.

“We will continue to rely heavily on our shuttle program,” Owsley said. “We are also looking to acquire additional land around the campus and address parking by building onto that.”

The future of U of L parking largely hinges on the direction of its housing. The university will reveal its master plan for expansion in the next few months, and parking spaces will likely be included.

According to Housing Director Shannon Staten, U of L hopes to up its housing capabilities by 1,500 beds over the next 8-10 years. The hope is to have 400 new beds ready for use in 2009.

“We have a ‘request for proposal’ out now asking for developers who may want to partner with us to add more beds,” Staten said. “The developers are being asked to consider parking for the facilities in hopes of taking care of some of those needs.”

Staten also said that these new builds should not affect already existing campus parking. The hope is to increase the resident student population from 20% to 28% with the addition of these beds, significantly cutting into the number of commuter students.

“I really hope they don’t eliminate anymore parking in favor of new buildings,” engineering student Zach Thelen said.

“By updating the master plan for Belknap, we will be able to see what areas we have the potential to grown in, which will help us address our parking needs there,” Owsley said.

Owsley said most of U of L’s space problems are very common for a commuter heavy university.

As U of L wrestles with its parking woes, other universities are doing the same. Dale Kleimeyer, assistant parking director at the University of Cincinnati, said that his school has also experienced parking problems as its enrollment continues to grow.

“We mainly have a lot of the same problems as U of L,” Kleimeyer said. “We sell our passes on a first come, first serve basis to students for $50-$100 a month, but there still just isn’t enough space to accommodate everyone.”

There are also those at U of L who recognize the commonality of these problems.

“Virtually every commuter school suffers from a shortage of parking,” Commuter Student Association president Mark Glickman said. “Without changing how parking is allocated, this issue will remain.”

U of L parking will not improve soon, as Owsley said there are no plans for parking additions or subtractions to the Belknap campus in the foreseeable future. He added that the coming year should bring future plans into focus.

“There should be an announcement in the next couple of months about who our housing developers will be,” Owsley said. “We hope to have the master plan unveiled in April or May of ’08.”