Students and staff are split between expressing frustration and enthusiasm regarding the new Ivinson Parking Garage.
“I am really looking forward to regaining good parking options on campus” Miranda Perry, a Journalism major, said. “That is going to lessen the frustration that all of us have when paying for parking permits,”
With a unique position as both a student and an employee, Perry describes how limited parking availability disrupts both her school and work schedule.
“Last semester, I had to schedule things around parking,” Perry said, “I have to avoid setting up meetings or appointments that require me to leave [work] in the afternoon.”
Perry notes that the University of Wyoming has failed to announce to both students and staff about lot closures and parking accommodations.
“Recently I found that some coworkers didn’t realize that some parking lots had been redesignated,” said Perry. “ I don’t think it was communicated really well that there are more parking options.”
“Behind the Ag building, they put in new green space, which was confusing since there are specific requirements for green space,” Perry said. “They could have used it as a temporary parking space while they are starting other construction projects.”
With the combination of parking concerns and mass construction, students and staff are experiencing a newfound disconnect.
“That is what people at other universities do struggle with, and that was something different when I came to UW,” Perry said. “There was that open space and a move-around feel. It feels like a little bit of that has been lost recently.”
Keeping construction projects on track has also proved difficult.
“Constructing a concrete structure at 7,200 feet over the winter always brings the concern of weather,” Jennifer Coast, Deputy Director of Captial Construction and Safety, said. “Sampson Construction is responsible for temporary heating and has built multiple parking garages in the Rocky Mountains.”
The university expects the parking garage to alleviate parking issue on campus upon its completion.
“A parking garage has always been in high demand at UW,” Paul Kunkel, the Director of UW Transportation Services, said. “The campus community is excited for this addition of a multi-level parking structure near the heart of campus.”
The new three-level structure will be a mix between short-term meter parking and permit parking during UW regular business hours
This contradicts the hopes of some students for free lot parking on Ivinson for better access to locations like The Union and Guthrie House.
“The Ivinson lot was nice to access for Reece Hall, and nothing was really put up to replace it,” Perry said.
“There hasn’t been any student parking near the Gutherie House in the past, so the current situation is really nothing new,” Kunkel said. “The parking lots east of the Union and west of the Cooper Lot both had capacity available when the Ivinson Lot closed in October.”
With the Ivinson Parking Garage well underway and the possible approval of more parking garages in the future, students and staff are worried about which locations will be impacted and how their access to campus will be adjusted.
“I know faculty doesn’t utilize ‘A’ parking permits because it’s not worth it since, depending on where you work on campus, there are a lot of ‘death zones’ for parking,” Perry said.
