Alicia de Anda used to park her car on the corner of Beverly
Glen and Sunset Boulevard every morning for a 25-minute walk to
campus. Now one of the 545 proud owners of a Lot 7 parking permit,
de Anda is thankful the new structure opened early.
“There are quite a few students who park on Sunset,”
de Anda, a fourth-year art history student, said. “It’s
a pain walking when it’s hot or when it’s
raining.”
With the high demand for campus parking, the opening of the
structure on March 31 proved to be a relief for many who were
denied a permit and placed on the wait list.
“We’re offering Lot 7 permits for those who are on
the wait list for the spring quarter,” said Catherine Todd,
Manager of Parking Programs.
Parking structure 7, which is located under the Intramural
Field, started construction in September of 2001. With the expected
completion date originally set for August of 2003, this is one of
the few projects on its way to early completion. The project
includes the full restoration of the field. Replanting of grass is
scheduled to take place sometime in the next two weeks.
The new structure accommodates 1,527 parking spaces. However,
some students are confused at the number of open spaces in Lot
7.
“I think they could give out more permits. Every time
I’m in here, I see a lot of open spaces,” said Carolina
Ditasserl, a third-year mathematics student.
The spaces remain empty due to continuing construction within
the structure. Level P1, which holds 625 spaces, opened at the
beginning of the quarter. With the construction crew still working
on P2, the other level, Lot 7 will not experience full occupancy
until April 15.
In addition to the 545 parking permits given out, Lot 7 receives
good business with an average of 185-190 daily permits selling per
day.
Students who now park in Lot 7 are happy they don’t have
to deal with the hassles of commuting without a permit.
“I didn’t have a permit before so I had to
vanpool,” Michael Massei, a third-year psychology student
said. “For me, having a permit is awesome.”
Massei, who commutes from Pasadena, was on campus everyday from
7 a.m. to 5 p.m. when vanpooling. He said he’s happy he can
enjoy a more flexible schedule.
With the opening of Lot 7, Todd expects stack parking in other
lots to disappear starting next fall quarter. Currently, only Lots
4 and 8 have stack parking. Stacking in Lot 4 will only continue
for the first two weeks of fall quarter 2003 and will cease
thereafter.
“Stack parking is very expensive and many customers
don’t like it,” Todd said.
Along with the inconvenience of not having a permit, safety also
seems to be an issue for some students. Before having a parking
permit, de Anda said she was never able to stay on campus when it
became dark.
“It’s especially dangerous for women not to have a
parking permit,” de Anda said. “Those who don’t
have a permit are at a real disadvantage.”