UM students find the creation of the new Pavia parking garage a blessing and a curse.
While 198 spaces were lost by closing the Pavia lot for construction, 214 spaces have been added by placing concrete space markers on the lawns surrounding the UC, the Lowe Art Museum, and the Behavioral Medicine building, according to the department of parking and transportation.
However, students said that these spaces are somewhat difficult to get to and it takes more time for students to find a space, or rather, a way to get to a space.
“It’s annoying and problematic. I have to get here fifteen minutes earlier,” says student Danielle Minervini.
Curbs have been lowered in some places to make easy access to the temporary parking, but since it is only temporary, entrances are not all clearly marked or easy to find.
Students are finding the construction to be an inconvenience, but complaints are relatively few. For now, they are swallowing their complaints in hopes of a better parking alternative next semester.
“We really need the garage,” says freshman Richard Hargett. “It’s about time we made some steps toward fixing the parking problem on campus. It’s just too bad they have to ruin the grass. It’s not very nice, aesthetically.”
“I only have trouble on Mondays when I come to school later in the day,” says commuter student Yolanda Ossa. “But I had that problem before the construction started. But I could usually find a parking space by the counseling center and now I can’t.”
English professor Natasa Kovacevic says, “I have a faculty tag, so it doesn’t affect me as much, but the Writing Center lot, where I usually park, is much busier now.”
The parking problem affects commuter students much more than dorm residents, they said.
On-campus resident Lily Baca said that the construction hasn’t affected her at all, because she doesn’t have to commute.
“I go out on weekends and come home at night, when parking is not a problem anyway. I just park at Eaton, where I live,” Baca said.
The garage will have 561 spaces, more than twice as many as the old Pavia lot offered. It will be equipped with two blue light phones and a 24-hour security guard and is expected to open in August 2002.