Search

ARCHIVES
CONTACT US
WORLD NEWS

New university parking plan blocks 200 central spaces

Another campus construction project is about to make parking at the UA even more scarce, but will create more lot space in the long term.

About 200 spaces will be temporarily lost from the Zone One parking lot at North Tyndall Avenue and East Fourth Street in November, as University of Arizona officials prepare to build a new 1,600-space garage.

The lot - one of the largest on campus - has about 450 spaces, said Marlis Davis, UA's parking and transportation director.

"It (construction) will take a couple hundred spots," Davis said. "(But) we're adding more spots than we're taking away."

Two new Zone One lots - in the vicinity of North Speedway Boulevard and East Helen Street and on East Sixth Street and North Fremont Avenue - will be created to alleviate the temporary shortage, she added.

"I'm asking them (students) to be understanding," Davis said. "We've done a lot of things to mitigate these construction issues."

Davis said although officials typically oversell Zone One permits, they sold fewer this year than in previous years-about 6,730 permits for 4,929 spaces - in anticipation of construction issues.

"We do not oversell to the point where you cannot find a space," Davis said. "If they look at the overall picture, in the long run they'll see we're adding more spaces."

The $8 million garage is slated to be completed by next August, according to Davis. Permits will be sold for $400, making the Tyndall Garage the most expensive lot on campus.

That fact has angered some students.

"I think they need more Zone One lots than parking garages," said Aubrey Streb, a Spanish junior. "One hundred sixty dollars (the price of a Zone One permit) is even too much."

Chris Cavalcant, a general biology sophomore, said the addition of the new lots isn't much of a consolation.

"I live (north of Speedway), so it would be pointless for me to park there," he said. "Students are going to be pissed off about that."

Davis contended that there are still plenty of spaces near campus.

"You're only going to be parking in the new places if you get (to campus) at 10 o'clock," Davis said.

But media arts sophomore Tyler Blohm said the construction issue worries him because he already has difficulty finding spaces in the Tyndall lot.

"This is really as close as I can get to one of my classes," Blohm said. "Some days, I can't even get a spot here."