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Printer-Friendly ModeProposed lots may improve parking
February 22, 2010 —
An average of 4,030 vehicles park on campus during a normal school day, according to Joyce Payne, parking and student employment service coordinator.
There are 5,143 spots scattered throughout SVSU. The number counts every single space, Payne said — commuter parking, timed spaces, metered spots, staff and faculty parking, and permit-required lots.
SVSU’s Board of Control has approved a $1.8 million parking project to be completed for the fall 2010 semester. One of the major reparations will include repaving the Ryder Center lot, adding 140 spaces to the 479 available there.
If enough money remains, Payne said, a new lot may be built on the east side of campus, just north of the athletic fields. It would provide an additional 200 to 400 spaces.
In the meantime, Payne said that the parking services group has loosened its rules to accommodate commuters.
“We have let students park in non-parking designated areas,” Payne said. “We have allowed curb-side parking in J1, J2 and E. That will certainly not be the case come fall.”
Payne added that today’s number of spaces shouldn’t pose much of a problem because not all of the 10,000-plus students enrolled will have cars on campus simultaneously.
Students seem to think differently.
“[The parking lots are] overcrowded,” said Tonya Cross, a nursing senior. “It’s ridiculous.”
Cross isn’t the only one who reported a deficiency.
“I went to the Ryder Center lot around 1 p.m. [last] Wednesday because there weren’t any spots in the D lot,” said Tyler Dijak, a freshman whose major is undecided. “And there weren’t any spots there even. They need to expand the parking lots somehow.”
Other students, such as chemistry junior Krissi Lutz and nursing freshman Megan Childs, said that in order to get a spot, they must drive slowly behind people coming from the building who are walking to their cars.
“You have to stalk people. Literally,” said Lutz. “And people do it to me too. I’ll be walking, and I’ll see a car going really slow behind me.”
Many Facebook users agree. One created a fan page named “That little bit of joy you get when FINALLY finding a parking spot at SVSU.”
On Feb. 16, the page had 45 fans. As of Feb. 20, it has more than 515.
Its wall features simple comments, such as “It’s cutthroat!” from Kevin LaDuke, a communication freshman.
Other posters are more specific.
Marketing sophomore Jacob Cooley left an entry about how he feels when he finds a spot in Lot D.
“You’re like, ‘YES!’” he wrote. “‘I knew it was a good idea to waste 15 minutes trying to find a parking spot here instead of just starting at the back of the Ryder!’” But while students await parking lot development, psychology senior Genny Luppino offers advice.
“The one rule about D lot I have learned is that all is fair in love and parking,” she said.