On Campus Parking Shortage
This is a proposal regarding the On-Campus parking shortage in our college. As you know our college has witnessed a tremendous increase in student enrollment this year, resulting in less number of parking areas inside the campus and thus forcing several students to park off-campus.
Even if the students buy the $23 parking card at the College they are not guaranteed a parking area inside the campus. There is not a single place to park even in the remote swimming pool area. Most campus parking lots fill up really fast although the last to fill in the row is the swimming pool lot. Driving down Rose Valley Road or Telecom Road and discovering a parking place on the shoulder is a real difficult task. As one is slowing down to find a parking place there the rest of the traffic is flying by and frustration suddenly creeps in. And even if we find one parking spot it will be large enough to fit only a smart car in most of the cases. The streets running parallel to Rose Valley Road or Telecom Road are an option, but nothing comes easy. Those students who have searched these roads would have definitely seen the one-hour parking signs from 9 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. In any case a student happens to park on these restricted places, the campus police are not their enemies. Most of the students try to stay on campus; Telecom, Rose Valley and other roads are left to the local Police Department. The local Police Department has the whole jurisdiction surrounding the campus area; and they have the authority to ticket the students.
Our College is too busy and crowded this particular year and more students are being creative and risking the parking ticket. Even the people who live on the surrounding roads have started to notice the growth. A local resident, who have been living there for more than ten years even commented that this is the maximum crowd I’ve ever watched in these streets. Although parking in these streets has a high risk factor, it is still an option in desperate situations. Students parking up here make a complete mess of things. There are also opinions about putting up a stop sign towards the end of the road, but the local City police declined the request. Any car parked in that area between the hours of 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. that goes beyond the one hour parking limit will be ticketed by the local Police Department. Due to all these reasons; parking is more of a challenge this year. To carry on with parking as easy as possible, the current solutions available from the students’ side is either carpooling with a friend or arrive to school fifteen minutes earlier than the normal time to find a convenient parking spot. But now-a-days most of the students arrive early due to this reason and hence again the parking congestion continues. Again, the parking signs need to be avoided as much as possible; to ensure that you do not have to pay the fine.
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