After 18 months of construction behind the Bryan Center, Parking Garage IV has opened to the public.
While permits are restricted to employees and graduate students, PGIV will also serve as the primary parking for special events and will add flexibility for undergraduates parking on West Campus after hours.
Regular operations will begin Monday, although this week, anyone could park in the garage. The lower three levels are reserved for employee permit holders, visitors can park on the third and fourth levels and the fifth level is for graduate students, said Melissa Harden, assistant director of parking and traffic. Visitors will pay a fee of $2 per hour, with a maximum charge of $12 per day.
"We've been having a lot of people coming in, with kids coming back to school," parking lot attendant Tanya Melton said. "We've had a lot of traffic, and everything's been running smoothly."
In addition to providing more parking on West Campus and alleviating the current parking crunch, the deck fits into the University's long-range parking goals, said Cathy Reeve, director of parking and transportation services.
"We're trying to provide parking for now and in the future," she said. "With [the Center for Interdisciplinary Engineering, Medicine and Applied Sciences] and other improvements like the Perkins addition and Divinity coming, all these are going to impact and require parking. We've built for the future, so that when the need arises, there will be a place for [displaced employees] to park."
The garage will operate 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. Students will be able to park in the garage after hours but will not be allowed to leave their cars overnight.
"We will be monitoring so there's no overnight parking," Reeve said. "You will be able to stay until midnight if you're at the library, but if you're there when we open up at seven in the morning, we'll be looking for that."
To address potential safety concerns, PGIV is outfitted with extensive security measures, from better lighting to active patrols.
"In addition to staffing the lot during the pay times, we're going to have enforcement going through the deck," Reeve said. "We have security cameras, we have lighting that gives off a brighter light [and the whole garage] is designed better for keeping it light and keeping it bright. We've hired a cleaning company to keep the garage clean, and we'll have foot patrols as active security. It will be active with people parking, and they are deterrents to crime as well."
The addition of PGIV comes at an important time for parking and transportation services, as the University and Medical Center parking systems complete their merger. After the merger is complete, the new parking department will define its long-term goals and come up with a detailed strategic plan.
"We're going to be able to state our needs for the next five or so years," Reeve said. "It's more than just the number of parking spaces, it's where they're located and how they're used. The University does have a physical master plan that looks out based on what the University's needs are for buildings and programs. What we need to do is take parking and transportation and develop our plan that supports the University's master plan."
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