Graig MantleMonday not only marked the first day of spring quarter classes, but also the reopening of the H-2 parking lot, located between Highland Drive and Perimeter Road. The lot had been closed since December 2004 for the construction of the two new engineering buildings.
The lot at H-2 will now have allocated staff, disabled, sponsored guest and state vehicle spaces. Also featured are more than 100 two-hour parking meters which exist nowhere else on campus.
“I saw quite a few staff members (parked) there (on Monday), but not so many at the meters though,” said Sgt. Robert Eckrote of the University Police Department. Eckrote said he believes there is a need for metered parking on campus.
“We have a lot of people who just need to come in to drop things off,” he said.
As an alternative to inserting coins in the parking meters, the University Police Department also offers cash keys, which can be used on all campus meters.
“You push in the key, pull it out and it puts some money in the meter,” Eckrote said. “It basically subtracts from the key.”
However, the cash keys only work on campus and not in the city of San Luis Obispo, which has its own parking meter keys.
In a parking lot survey conducted by the University Police Department in September 2004, the H-2 lot then featured 507 general parking spaces, 170 staff spaces, 21 meters and several disabled and sponsored guest spaces to total 707 spaces. After the construction of the new buildings, the lot now features 200 total spots, with 104 meters and 81 staff spaces.
Because staff parking will increase with the H-2 lot, current staff parking in the H-12 lot off of Via Carta Road will soon be reverted to general parking.
Though students often struggle to find parking, Eckrote said they are not alone.
“It’s students, staff, faculty – everybody,” he said. “Parking is a premium. You have to make sure you come in early enough.”
In fall quarter 2006, 8,032 parking permits were sold. Of that number, 1,679 were for general annual permits and 3,385 were for general fall quarter permits. Only 297 annual staff passes were sold and 404 staff permits for just fall quarter.
The University Police Department reported in their January 2006 parking survey that there were a total 6,621 parking spaces on campus.