Although the Parking Garage was just built, there are still problems at hand. The Parking Committee Council has addressed one of them.
Students living in Goodnow and Marlatt dormitories have to park behind Weber in the R and Z lots across from the Derby complex, between North Manhattan and Claflin Ave. unless they have a GM pass, said Derek Jackson, graduate student in counseling and student development and associate director of service and residence life in the Department of Housing and Dining.
A GM pass is acquired based on a point system. Jackson said one moves up depending on their involvement in hall government or some leadership capacity, age, number of semesters in the residence halls and credit hours completed.
“I just got really lucky and got a GM pass,” said Paige Sander, freshman in open option. “I park outside of Goodnow and Marlatt I think because I brought in 16 credit hours, but I don’t think it is safe or fair people have to park so far away and cross campus at night.”
Jackson said he knows the small area of 60 spots in the D1 lot established four or five years ago in West Stadium is not enough. Allowing students to walk three-fifths of a mile at the closest to get to their car is not okay.
“I have been on campus for a good number of years and been on the Parking Committee Council for the last 13 years,” Jackson said. “I realize parking is not as safe as it potentially should be.”
With the help of Darwin Abbott, director of parking services, and the rest of the Parking Committee Council members, a section of the D1 parking lot has been allotted to off-campus students and about 163 spots to Z lot.
Abbott said during the summer they will move the 163 spot Z lot to the northwest corner of the orange section. Right now it is too cold and rainy to paint, so they put up signs.
The Parking Committee Council will change the maps eventually to show this “out of sequence thing” because they want people to be able to park there since they have the space, Abbott said.
“We tried to respond to the student voice,” Jackson said, “And this is kind of a win-win to meet the needs of on campus students, off campus students and faculty staff.”
For now, this is it, but the there are a number of ideas they can to explore. Abbott said they will make changes based on how the university changes parking matters.
“It is a hike to get to campus, “he said. “We want to make things better.”