Last summer, the University eliminated the 450-space Ocean parking lot to make way for the West-Edens Link. This summer, parking officials hope they have finally smoothed out the ripples from that loss, adding a new 313-space lot on Circuit Drive and reconfiguring some parking assignments.
The lot, open this fall, will be designated "remote," and will serve faculty, employees and graduate and professional students in the Science Drive area; shuttle bus service will be available.
Officials hope the added space will be more convenient for those parkers and free up space in the lots around N.C. 751. Those lots, once part of the now-defunct RT system, will be re-designated as either remote or "close-proximity" to bring parkers closer to their buildings.
"The long, hard place to find a spot last year was the RT system," said Joe Pietrantoni, associate vice president for auxiliary services. "These changes should iron out all the bulges."
The lot at the corner of N.C. 751 and Science Drive, formerly open to anyone with an RT pass, will now be gated and designated as close proximity. It will be open mainly to those who work and study in the area of the School of Law, the Fuqua School of Business and the Sanford Institute for Public Policy.
Designation of other lots will change as administrators try to bring parkers closer to their destinations. The Grounds lot farther down N.C. 751 and the Edens lots will be designated as remote, and the Cameron lot, which was undersold last year, will be changed from premium to close-proximity. "We took it literally decal by decal and asked, OWhat would be the best lot for this person?'" Pietrantoni said. "We're trying to use more regional management thinking." The changes follow a recent report by the University's outside parking consultant, Barbara Chance.
Pietrantoni said the changes address many of last year's parking complaints, including the previously higher cost of the Cameron lot and the distance many employees had to walk to their respective buildings. In addition, the oversell rate for University parking will be reduced from 24 to 20 percent.
Parking permits will rise in price slightly next year. The cost for remote parking will rise from $80 to $85; for close-proximity, from $198 to $210; and for premium, from $396 to $420. The Blue Zone will remain the only parking lot on West Campus designated for undergraduates, and the cost will increase from $160 to $170.
Officials said that keeping undergraduate parking in one lot, with security cameras and fences, improves security.
"There are a smattering of break-ins across campus and very few in the Blue Zone," said Campus Police Chief Clarence Birkhead. "There were no crimes against persons in the Blue Zone this past academic year."
Continuing a policy that was instituted last year, undergraduates will be expected to remove their cars from the Blue Zone by 2 a.m. on the Saturdays of this fall's six home football games. In addition, off-campus students will now have access to 310 Blue Zone spaces and spaces on East Campus.
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