Do not anticipate parking to get easier as the University grows.
The student population is growing, the campus is developing and expanding without administrators giving priority to parking, and pressure is increasing to cut the number of students, faculty and staff who drive to campus.
There is little choice but to do so, said Department of Public Safety Capt. Herb Horner, the University’s chief administrator in charge of parking.
“It’s common knowledge at any campus across the country that any surface parking lot is temporary,” Horner said. “It’s waiting for a building to go on top of it.”
Case in point: The part of the University’s largest parking lot open for student use, the one behind the Knight Law Center, is going to be the site of the new residence hall the University will begin building in 2011.
The University attempts to create new parking to compensate for any lost in construction, but many of the spots it uses to replace those lost are farther from the center of campus.
In one plan, for instance, the University will ask the City of Eugene to grant it ownership of Moss Street to turn it into a publicly accessible but University-owned thoroughfare lined with parking spots.
There are also plans for as many as four other parking lots. The eventual target, Horner said, is between 3,700 and 3,800 spots, up from the current 3,070.
However, while the University does have provisions to preserve parking spaces in its plans, it is also seeking to lessen the number of students who drive to campus.
Perhaps the best way to deal with parking problems on the University campus is simply not to park, not to drive.
That is the solution the University propounds. The key reason: environmental friendliness.
The University asks students, faculty and staff to use alternatives to cars to reach campus: bicycles, buses and car-sharing.
But even those solutions have their problems. Biking is already extremely popular on campus.
“It’s the town,” Horner said. “It’s the community here. It’s a way of living for a lot of people.”
Despite the popularity of bicycles, the University has parking for just 8,000 bicycles for everyone who uses campus. Space on some campus bicycle racks is just as difficult to find as spots in the University’s parking lots. It is common, for instance, to see the rack next to the Prince Lucien Campbell building completely full, with bicycles locked to poles and fences nearby, which can yield a ticket.
Bus service is still free for students, but Lane Transit District is poised to cut nine routes in response to budget cuts. Though LTD plans to retain all those used most commonly by University students, several others still affect students.
And the University’s car-sharing programs are underused, Horner said.
That leaves a significant number of students still relying on their cars to get to campus, which could lead to DPS making drastic changes to its parking policy.
“It could come down to freshmen just not being allowed to bring cars,” Horner said.
That’s a move many schools have taken, and one Horner said he expects the University to take.
Despite the problems with parking on campus, though, Horner said he is still optimistic.
Of the 3,700 spaces, Horner said: “How they’re used, there’s going to be some restrictions on that, but that number is more in line with what we really do need. With the programs in place and as smart as people are in this community about alternative transportation, I think we’re OK.”
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