By Stephen Franklin
More green spaces possible in Fourth Street parking lot
In an attempt to facilitate the growing demand for student parking on campus, the University Parking Department is considering converting a number of blue spaces in the shrinking Fourth Street lot to green spaces.
The lot, adjacent to the construction site of the new athletic dormitory, houses blue spaces which are often occupied less than 20 percent of the time, according to usage surveys conducted by the Parking department.
If use of the blue spaces doesn’t increase within two weeks, the spaces will be designated green, said Doreen Woods, assistant parking director.
According to Woods, many blue pass holders, traditionally faculty members, lamented over the change, claiming to still use the Fourth Street spaces. Regardless, the two-week notice still stands.
Within that period the Parking department will communicate to blue pass holders that the 64 blue parking spaces are there. If use of these spaces increases, then it is likely the spaces will remain designated for blue pass holders.
The Fourth Street lot is monitored daily by the parking department for signs of increased usage. If increased usage is not significant within the two-week period, the parking spaces will be designated green.
“The intent of the parking department is to serve everyone,” Woods said. If the majority of the blue spaces are not being used and green pass holders are having trouble finding parking, according to Woods, then those spaces spots will be redesignated as green.
There are currently no other plans to change or create additional parking for green pass holders on campus.
Regarding the current parking situation, Woods stated that U of L is not ignoring the problem. However, the university cannot just create new spaces.
“Parking is as good as it can be with the available resources,” she said.
The university is growing; new buildings are being constructed and the availability of land to build on remains the same. In order for an institution to grow something has to suffer; parking has been the sacrificial lamb.
Woods expressed that the department is aware of the problems and complaints related to parking. In her opinion, the U of L parking situation is good compared to other institutions of comparable size.
Woods said the university is making an attempt to handle parking effectively. In the meantime “please give the shuttle service a chance,” Woods said.
The university is in the process of buying and installing new shelters for all shuttle locations and improving the Floyd Street pickup area (which is the largest). The shuttle service is projected to cost in the region of $400,000 this year, according to Woods. When asked why the university does not take that money and build a parking garage on the Fourth Street lot, she explained that parking garages cost $8,000 to $12,000 per space, not including all the logistics needed for a garage to operate successfully. The completion of the Floyd Street garage in 1995 cost the university over $6 million.
Although the cost of the shuttle service is recurring, Woods noted that the cost of the service will be significantly less than that of building a new parking garage.
