Parking problem probed

By Reem Al-Omari
The Metropolitan

Auraria planners are trying to figure out how to make campus parking spaces more plentiful for students. But the campus parking will be grim in the near future, and students will likely pay more for fewer spaces.

Campus administrators launched a study in early December to find out why campus parking spaces are becoming so scarce and what to do to free them up for students. Concrete solutions for the parking problem, however, canât be made until the study is completed.

The first results of the study, which is being conducted by Transystems Corp., will be ready in March. The final two reports will be available later this spring.

Mark Gallagher, Aurariaâs director of Parking and Transportation Services, said the July construction of the Performing Arts Center in Lot G, near the Plaza Building, will displace 275 spaces.

To make up for lost parking, campus planners will build 100 new spaces in Lot M, between St. Francis Center and Speer Boulevard, and Gallagher said parking rates will have to be raised to cover the cost for the expansion.
The fall 1998 construction of a second building, which will house administratorsâ offices, will also eat up to 200 spaces in Lot E, between Walnut and Fifth Streets.

Barb Weiske, director of the Tivoli and Campus Auxiliaries, said the Tivoli lot and other lots near campus are filling up faster than ever before. The rapid influx of cars  leaves many students no option but to park in lots far from campus.

ãThe Tivoli parking problem is unique,ä Weiske said.

Weiske said the study will show how often students compete with people who park on campus but donât go to school or work at Auraria. She speculated that people who work downtown might be parking in the Tivoli lot, because of increased rates for parking in LoDo.

Weiske said several possible solutions could solve the parking dilemma on campus, including window stickers or parking identification cards for students and faculty. Parking attendants could then limit parking to those who could prove they attend school or work at Auraria.

But parking in the Tivoli lot will not be limited because Tivoli businesses depend on students and the public for revenue and expect campus parking to accommodate both, Weiske said.

Auraria planners also want to negotiate a lease on a parking lot, owned by the Colorado Department of Transportation, at Fifth Street and Auraria Parkway.