Students who park in the Commuter East or South Zones may notice a zoning change near South, Rice and McComas Halls in addition to two new parking lots this fall.
Mike Harris, Director of Parking Operations, said 224 Commuter East parking spaces near Rice and South Halls were reallocated to South Zone in order to accommodate the occupants of South Hall.
Harris said some students find the parking lot between Hardy Road and Rice Hall confusing, despite the four new South Zone signs marking the reallocated spaces.
“We tried to be as proactive as we could,” he said.
The two parking bays nearest South and Rice halls are exclusively South Zone, while the bay closest Hardy Road remains Commuter East and Staff. Harris said additional signs will be posted soon.
The adjacent lot is located between McComas Hall and Hardy Road. It accommodates both Commuter East and Staff, except the bay nearest McComas Hall, which is reserved for staff.
Yet there is no need for students who park in the Commuter East Zone to worry about losing parking spots, Harris said.
“We added a parking lot to the Commuter East Zone to help offset what we were re-designating to South Zone,” he said.
The new Commuter East Zone lot is located behind Herbert Street, Herbert Hall and the Industrial Education building. The gravel lot covers the old band practice field and adds more than 200 parking spaces to the zone. Some areas bordering the lot are designed for parallel parking, while the narrow gravel lanes that allow traffic in and out of the lot are clearly marked no-parking zones.
Students who park in Commuter East are not the only students having difficulties finding available parking spaces. Some South Zone students have had a hard time finding parking spaces since South Hall, which houses 350 students, opened in August.
A new 125-space parking lot located in the South Zone, in addition to the reallocated Commuter East parking spaces accounts for the South Hall residents, Harris said. The new paved lot runs parallel to Bully Boulevard and is behind the tennis courts and Cresswell Hall.
After receiving complaints from South Zone students about a lack of parking spaces, Harris said he drove through the zone several times last week and counted more than 70 available parking spaces behind Hathorn and Cresswell halls each day.
Some students still express concern about parking on campus.
Tyler Sutton, freshman aerospace engineering major, said the problem with parking in South Zone is not a lack of parking spots.
“Commuter East students take a lot of our parking. Even when there are spaces available, they are too far away,” Sutton said.
Chris Carrubba, junior political science major, said parking on campus is not a new issue for students.
“I always have trouble finding a place to park in Commuter East. At 9 a.m., it is a pain,” Carrubba said.
Harris said he wants to remind students that the first few weeks of each semester are usually the most troublesome for parking. After students get into a routine the confusion usually dies down, he said, noting that the biggest source of confusion is currently the newly allocated South Zone spaces near McComas Hall and Hardy Road.
Harris also strongly warned students not to confuse a change in zoning with a change in parking policy.
“The policy remains the same,” Harris said. “Students still have to park in their zones.”
Game day parking policy has not changed either, Harris said, to assure South Zone residents.
“The South Zone residence area will be blocked off as in the past and only South Zone permits will be allowed to enter,” he said.