2008 Woodie Awards
Students, faculty agitated about parking issues
By Amy Kelly
Rocket News Editor
Issue date: 9/21/07 Section: News
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According to SRU Police Chief Windy Stafford, there are currently 3,859 total parking spaces available on campus. After eliminating the 108 handicapped, 52 15-minute and 105 reserved spaces that figure drops to 3,594.
Ann Graham, a 20-year-old junior biology major, lives at the Pine Glenn Apartment complex located on Kiester road and has been walking to campus lately because of the magnitude of drivers.
"Classes are expanding and no corrections are occurring with the parking problem we are having," she said.
While commuters make up 66 percent of the campus population, they're allotted 19.9 percent of the total parking spaces and share another 11.8 percent in the West Lake Parking Lot with staff.
"Most of the time you have to park so far away that it would just be faster to walk," Graham said.
The East Lake Parking Lot, the Gail Rose Lodge Parking Lot and the Ski Lodge Parking Lot comprise 22.2 percent of all parking and are open to commuters, staff and residents. These lots feature the only spots on campus that all three groups have free range of the territory.
"Having a parking garage would be a lot of money to pay off," Graham said. "But with enrollment expanding, you might have to think about building one."
While there are currently no plans for such a project, it could, theoretically, be funded in part by the monies the university takes in from parking passes and tickets.
During the 2006-07 school year, 3,899 commuter parking passes were sold at $25 each, bringing in $97,475 for the university.
From Jan. 1, 2006 to Dec. 31, 2006, 8,822 parking tickets were paid, and combined with the parking boots that were placed on cars, the university's total income from these ventures came to $132,330, Graham said she has paid for 32 parking tickets in her three years at the university.
Kelli Robinson, 19, a sophomore exercise science major, lives in the new dorms on campus and agrees that there are not enough parking spaces.
"I normally just have my car here for about half of the year," Robinson said.
Residential parking makes up the greatest percentage of spaces at 24.5 percent.
"The parking office shouldn't limit who purchases parking passes just because we only have 3,000 spaces," Robinson said. "It should just remain first come, first served."
Albena Iossifova, an assistant professor in the School of Business, said that parking seems to be a problem that's only getting worse for students.
"I always park up near North Hall and the Alumni House," Iossifova said. "So I really don't have a problem but I notice that others do, especially around the Eisenberg Classroom Building."
Staff-only lots account for 21.4 percent of the total parking spaces on campus, the second highest to resident parking spots.
Viewing Comments 1 - 10 of 17
Laura
posted 9/20/07 @ 10:49 PM EST
Other PASSHE schools, including Bloomsburg and Clarion, only allow students who live past a certain distance from campus (I believe it's more than 1/4 of a mile) to get passes to park on campus. (Continued…)
Cougar
posted 9/20/07 @ 11:32 PM EST
I commute from Butler and have been arriving 1.5 hours prior to my first class, just so I can find a place to park. The current $25 parking fee is too low. (Continued…)
Melissa
posted 9/21/07 @ 12:40 AM EST
Like many others, I'm commuting from Butler this semester as well, and it's such a pain to find a parking spot! I think it would be a very good idea to consider something like a parking garage, or expanding the parking by getting rid of some of the woods behind the new dorms, or better yet, why not just open up all parking lots to anyone with a pass instead of having specific lots, because I've driven by many open faculty spaces, but obviously can't park there without getting a ticket. (Continued…)
t_zanarini
Tom Z.
posted 9/21/07 @ 8:29 AM EST
There is not a parking problem on campus, there is a problem of too many people driving that shouldn't. Pine Glen Apartment residents driving to campus?? WTF! They are practically on campus! How fat are these people?
Pumpkin
posted 9/21/07 @ 9:11 AM EST
There isn't a parking problem on the Slippery Rock campus, there is a walking problem for most of the students that go to school here. Though Slippery Rock is one of the most athletic universities around, it is also one of the laziest. (Continued…)
Kevin
posted 9/21/07 @ 9:50 AM EST
I read in this article about people complaining that live in pine glenn apartments. What is that a 20 minute walk at the most. Stop complaining and walk the short distance from kiester and there will be many more spots for the students who actually have to drive to class (Butler, Pittsburgh, Grove City). (Continued…)
Erin
posted 9/21/07 @ 10:08 AM EST
Other schools I have been to do not allow freshman to bring a car or they prevent you from getting a pass if you live within a certain distance from campus. (Continued…)
Bee
posted 9/21/07 @ 7:51 PM EST
The whole parking problem is ridiculous. Students who can walk, don't and students who don't have class until 10 or 11 are SOL. There were times last year when I couldn't find a space in ANY lot. (Continued…)
Daniel
posted 9/22/07 @ 3:53 PM EST
As a graduate student at Slippery Rock, I feel that if the undergraduates learned to walk more places, the parking issues would resolve themselves.
Students living in South Rock and other complexes near campus drive across the street to campus everyday for class. (Continued…)
aj
posted 9/25/07 @ 4:45 PM EST
i walk to and from classes everyday mostly b/c of gas prices, parking and global warming, thanks environmental studies.
it takes about 15-20 mins to get to mckay and about 35 to get to the arc. (Continued…)
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