After months of planning, the University has released a parking plan with several significant changes for next year, including the elimination of West Campus spots for off-campus residents and a substantial increase in parking permit costs.
The plan, designed by Director of Parking and Transportation Cathy Reeve, comes just before $1.3 million in parking construction begins. On May 13, the Divinity School parking lot will close permanently for the construction of the new engineering building and the Divinity addition, Circuit Drive street parking--traditionally used by Medical Center employees--will be eliminated and Science Drive will become a cul-de-sac and be closed to street traffic. In addition, a new parking deck behind the Bryan Center is expected to be completed by fall 2003.
"This is a transition year for parking," said Reeve, who took her position last August. "There will be a one-year pinch, but things should get better after that."
Permit fees for all four types of spots--remote, proximate, premium and residential--will go up about 6 percent, Reeve said. Parking violation fees, which have not changed in over five years, also will increase; for example, the $50 fee for parking on landscape or sidewalks will double in price, as will the current $100 cost of parking in a fire lane.
Major changes will
Reeve said she expects demand for Blue Zone permits to increase as more undergraduates live on campus with the opening of the West-Edens Link. To offset the demand, the approximately 200 undergraduates who live off campus will no longer park in the Blue Zone but instead in remote lots at about half the cost of a Blue Zone permit. A bus will run every 10 to 15 minutes during the day between a new remote lot on Maxwell Street, another lot near the athletic fields on West and the back of the Bryan Center.
"[Reeve] will make sure the academic need is met no matter what," said Joe Pietrantoni, vice president for auxiliary services. "We will find out when the last class is and the buses will work with that schedule."
Fewer spots will be needed at Trent Drive Hall, where the population is decreasing from about 350 to less than 100 next year, Pietrantoni said. In the future, the Trent lot will be used by Medical Center employees, many displaced from the lot on Circuit Drive; about 25 spots closest to Trent will be available for the dorm's residents.
To accommodate the loss of Divinity parking, the Facilities Management Department will vacate its current spots to move to the Smith Warehouse on Maxwell Street. Also, displaced parkers will be given priority in spots vacated throughout the year.
Another central goal of the plan is to improve transit amenities, Reeve said. Officials will add seven shelters with proper lighting to the bus path, including by the hospital and on Central Campus. They will also build more bike racks, post new signs and pave the employee dirt lot on Duke University Road. Collectively, these improvements will cost over $300,000, Reeve said.
She added that better communication is another goal. Her office has made a new website and established two list servs--one for students and one for employees--that will notify students immediately if there are problems with buses.
Reeve also said she will work to more efficiently allocate parking spots. "We are taking a space count in parking lots and finding consistent available space," she said. "We are seeing how to better use space."
The loss of Divinity and Circuit Drive spots, the hospital reclaiming the Trent lots and an increased demand for Facilities Management Department spots account for a 577-spot loss. But the Maxwell Street lot, the relocation of facilities staff and increased space efficiency create an 835 spot gain. Overall, the plan creates a 258-spot net gain.
During discussion of the plan, Reeve consulted committees that included students, employees and administrators.
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