Parking areas, prices will increase next year

By Nancy Motherway
Arizona Daily Wildcat
May 8, 1996

Another school year comes to a close and soon the cars that filled parking lots and alleyways around campus will be gone.

But Parking and Transportation Services will be expanding some Zone 1 parking areas, including the space its offices formerly occupied at 1512 E. Sixth St., to make more spaces available for next year.

The department, now located in the Main Gate Office building, 888 N. Euclid Ave., plans to increase visitor and off-campus parking and raise prices for some of the annual parking permits, according to a newsletter mailed to permit holders in March.

With the addition of parking spaces over the site of the former Parking and Transportation Services offices, Zone 1 lots on Cherry Avenue and Helen Street will also be expanded, the newsletter stated.

Main Gate Garage permit holders will have to pay $360 for next year, $50 more than the current rate. Permits for the disabled will increase by $35 to $160, while those who purchase the Superpass, Cherry Avenue Garage or Park Avenue Garage permits will face a $25 rise in cost from this year, according to the newsletter.

With the implementation of an evening parking permit system, free nightly on-campus parking will no longer be available in all garages and some gated areas starting in the fall.

Last month, Parking and Transportation Services decided to restrict free access during the evenings, said Marlis Davis, director of Parking and Transportation Services.

Although students who do not purchase evening permits will not enjoy close-in parking, Davis said, the department hopes to ease concerns about safety with the aid of the University of Arizona Police Department and the Associated Students Escort Service.

"I thought that would be a real positive step forward to easing people's safety concerns," Davis said.

Parking and Transportation Services may assist the Escort Services' Safe Ride program, which has run out of money and continues to run on next year's funds, she said.

Tim Walker, director of the Escort Service, said he spoke with Davis to see if they would contribute money to the Escort Service next year.

"I looked at their budget and since Parking and Transporation grosses about $5.8 million a year, even $20,000 is pennies to them," he said.

Parking and Transportation will also be reducing the Gated Area evening permit to $25 a semester, while the cost for parking in the garages at night will still be $50 a semester, Davis said.

Earlier this year, Parking and Transportation Services changed 100 permit spaces to visitor spaces in the new Main Gate Parking Garage, she said.

There are now 619 permit spaces and 328 visitor spaces in the garage.

The new hotel, a 250-room Mariott being constructed next to the Main Gate Building at 880 E. Second St., will have the opportunity to lease 100 spaces after its completion in October, Davis said.

In addition, hotel employees will have to purchase permits from Parking and Transportation Services to park on campus, Davis said.

"They will be treated like any other university employee," she said. "No one gets anything for free."

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