Much ado about parking

More than 250 new parking places have been made available to freshmen in the parking lot behind the Centennial Center.
Also, the GCSU Parking and Transportation Service has added new streetlights to the Irwin Street Parking Lot, made larger drop-off zones in front of the residence halls, and has plans to add gates to the Irwin Street Lot.
“We monitor the parking situation very closely,” said Kyle Cullars, executive director of Auxiliary Services.  “And we try to take advantage of under-utilized areas.  We saw there was a lot of space behind the Centennial Center, so we used it to alleviate some of the concerns or complaints.”
Before the break, all freshmen were required to park in the Irwin Street Parking Lot, far away from their own rooms. 
Some freshmen were deterred from driving due to the inconvenience of where they were required to park. 
“I don’t drive as often as I used to,” said freshman Austin Ladshaw, a resident of Foundation Hall.  “By the time I have to walk there, I could just as easily have walked anywhere downtown.”
The new “O” classification lot is behind the Centennial Center, near Foundation and Napier Halls. At the beginning of the semester,  260 spots were opened to students  for a charge of $30 for an “O” level permit.  
A total of 350 permits were sold to allow students to park in those places. 
“We sold more permits than spaces because not everyone was likely to be there at the same time,” Cullars said.
All of the permits were purchased within the first six hours that they were on sale.
For students who still park in the Irwin Street lot, the walk to and from the residence halls to the lot is now much safer, thanks to nine new streetlights that keep the sidewalks very well lit.
Natalie Ishee, a freshman who lives in Parkhurst Hall, used to feel unsafe walking to Irwin Street after dark.
“I didn’t feel safe because it was dark,” Ishee said.  “There were random people walking in front of you or behind you, and you didn’t know if they were there for honest reasons or not.  It was also hard to cross the street because of all the speeding cars.”
Ishee says the lights make the walk much more pleasant. 
“I feel a lot safer because I can see now,” Ishee  said.
Parking and Transportation Services plans to also add gates to the Irwin Street lot, so only students with Bobcat Cards can enter.
“The gates are in the construction phase now,” Cullars said.  “We hope to have them working in the next few weeks.”
Cullars also said that the gates would be kept up during the high traffic times during the morning and early afternoon, and would be closed in the evening and at night.
The footbridge that currently spans Hwy. 49 is also scheduled to be revamped.  The work will begin once all the necessary funds have been collected.  The project will cost an estimated $75,000.
“We need to do some work on the bridge before we can open it,” Cullars said.  “We have to make sure it’s structurally sound.
The loading/unloading areas in front of the various Residence Halls on Greene Street have also been lengthened, so that they would not always be so busy.  Students can park in those areas for no more than 20 minutes at a time.
Finally, Parking and Transportation Services has repainted all of the fire lanes so that they are plainly visible and can be easily distinguished. 
Students caught parked on a fire lane will be towed, Parking Services says.
Parking Services plans to continue to evaluate the lots and to continue to improve them for the students as the semester goes on.
“We’ll soon begin working on next year’s plan,” Cullars said.  “We don’t plan to make any big changes.”
Cullars encouraged the students and staff to contact Parking and Transportation Services with any suggestions for new parking plans.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Jan 19 2007. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry