The parking lot at the Union fills up quickly during the school day. Students who drive are often forced to find less convenient parking in order to make it to class.
Transportation has been a consistent problem at UW, from people slipping on the ice, getting run over by bicycles or finding a place to park. It is no secret that UW has a parking problem. TransPark and the bus drivers do their best to make sure that students arrive to class on time, but sometimes it is nearly impossible.
I live off campus and commute to class every morning. During the summer I rode my bike to class, but with the cold weather and increased traffic on Ninth Street, riding my bike is more of a peddle for my life event and driving works out better for those mornings when I am running behind.
The east parking lot has three stops and there have been several times this semester when the bus is filled up at the first and second stops, meaning that the people at the third stop have to wait for another bus. As someone who uses the third stop, there have been times when I have been late to class because the bus is already full. The bus drivers do their best to make sure that the bus is filled to capacity but when only half of the people waiting at a stop are able to get on, something needs to be done.
Four years ago there was talk of building a parking garage on campus, but nothing happened. There are a couple of options available for a parking garage that would make it so students wouldn’t have to wait for a bus or have to fight for a parking space in the R lot. The lot vacated by the old hospital on Ivinson Street or the lot in front of the Union would be big enough to hold a parking garage and both are close to campus.
The biggest drawback to a parking garage on campus would be cost. With the Half Acre expansion, no one wants to shell out millions of dollars so soon, but the parking garage would eliminate a huge problem on campus and would create space for new buildings. Prior to the ‘90s people could park on Prexy’s Pasture. There are old pictures floating around of the glorious days when parking in front of the classroom building was a possibility. Making UW a walking campus was a smart decision, but people still have to get to class. There are many small parking lots around campus but the permits are expensive and the free parking spots are always hard to come by. Cars are often parked bumper to bumper and now the campus shuttles are filling up. UW should reexamine the off campus parking situation before the situation gets even more out of hand.
