Despite the benefits that come from UH’s work in renovating the campus, it will come at a cost for students.
There will be an overall loss of parking spots this year, but it will be a temporary loss while UH Transportation and Parking Services wait for funding to finish the Energy Research Park expansion, said Elliot Kauffman, Student Government Association senator and Transportation and Parking Services Chair.
According to Director of Parking and Transportation Robert Browand, there are plans to eliminate the three temporary parking lots on Cullen, north of Elgin Street, in order to pave temporary parking lots 19C, 4A, 9B and Bayou Oaks.
According to Director of Parking and Transportation Robert Browand, there are plans to eliminate the three temporary parking lots on Cullen, north of Elgin Street, in order to pave temporary parking lots 19C, 4A, 9B and Bayou Oaks.
“We are working on a few parking projects,” said Browand, “but are still in the talking phase for most of them.”
There are also plans to start construction on a new parking garage on the north side of campus.
“To clear up any miscommunications regarding the Law Center,” said Browand, “we are not and never have talked about demolishing the parking lot near the center.”
As for how many actual parking spots are being lost this year, the numbers are not yet concrete, said Student Government Association senator and Transportation and Parking Services Vice Chair David Kazanci.
“The parking issue can be solved,” Kazanci said. “I think we’re on track to solve it. It’ll just take some time.”
The lack of available parking and the high costs of passes have angered the majority commuter student body. The students blame an unresponsive university, yet Transportation and Parking Services suggest it’s an inevitability of limited funds and time.
“I work a full time job to support myself, and I often wait an hour and a half in traffic getting to school,” psychology junior Anna Sheikh said. “There are a lot of students just like me, and they shouldn’t have to spend an extra thirty minutes trying to find parking.”
But this hasn’t ever been an aim for the University, said Student Government Association President Shaun Theriot-Smith.
“It’s a constant concern of the school to check in with us and see what the changing needs are of the students,” Theriot-Smith said. “They always want to know the forecast, and it hasn’t ever been an intention of (the University) to box out a certain group of students.”
Students are often discouraged to attend games because they aren’t permitted to park in some garages, even if they have passes there, said Sheikh.
“It’s absolutely ridiculous that I pay almost five hundred dollars for stadium parking and then can’t park there on game days,” Sheikh said. “I have to pay ten dollars to park in another lot for the actual game.”
Unfortunately, the reality of a popular sports program is that these spots be made available to donors, said Kauffman.
“You have a ranked football team, and you have to allow the donors to come in and tailgate,” Kauffman said. “That’s a necessity.”
Kauffman said a lot of students have misconceptions about how funds are obtained for building new lots and garages.
The ratio of students to available parking spaces in 1997 was 2.226 students per space. In comparison, this year’s enrollment averages out to 2.13 students per available space, according to the University’s blog, “Word on the Street.”
It all comes down to finite resources, said Kauffman.
“The only reason the spots declined from the thousand that we originally wanted in (Energy Research Park) to 450 is because of costs,” Kauffman said. “They’re an auxiliary service, so they only get money through their revenues.”
Geez can you be a bit more dramatic. First of all how can you say the university has not addressed the parking situation when there have been 4 garages added and plans for a 5th in couple years?
I am not sure why anyone would complain about parking on game days. Student parking cannot be reserved for game days for obvious mathematical reasons and those passes are to get you access during school hours. It has nothing to do with tailgating as is about these people having paid a lot of money to have the right to use the parking facilities for football games.
The campus is getting bigger, has better facilities and big time college atmosphere but sure let’s complain about parking and act as if it is not being addressed.
UH’s Parking and Transportation
Services department would like to provide some clarification on a few items:
*The Leek street lots on Cullen were never planned to be a permanent part
of the University’s parking structure. These lots
were built to provide additional parking spaces while the Stadium
Parking Garage was constructed. Since that project has been completed for three
years, that land will be returned to green space.
*The eventual return of the Leek Street lots is NOT related to planned
work to pave PERMANENT lots 19C, 4A, 9B and Bayou Oaks by the start of fall
2016.
*We hate to hear that a student paid $10 to park on campus to attend a UH
football game; however, numerous emails were sent to students throughout the
football season that explained where they could park free of charge.
*Parking and Transportation has worked hard to create more parking
options for the campus community, as the University continues to grow in both
size and popularity. In addition to the four parking garages that have been built over the past decade, plans are underway for a fifth garage and more spaces will be added to the overflow parking available at ERP. All of the hard work seems to
be paying off, as there was not one point this semester when every spot on
campus or at ERP was filled at the same time. Even during the busiest times
this fall, plenty of spaces were available in lot 12A behind TDECU Stadium, as well as at ERP.
We apologize for any inconvenience students may have experienced this semester, but we are continually working with our campus partners to improve the situation for everyone.
For the latest updates on parking on the UH campus, check out http://www.uh.edu/wordonthestreet.