By Jill Schalk
With construction of the new SGA students’ centre underway, parking at the heart of campus has been reduced.
Before construction commenced there were approximately 40 spaces in the pay and display lot in front of the West Residence building. But now that the construction is underway, there are just 12 spots available in that lot for pay and display parking.
When construction is completed, there will be 20 spaces. With only leaving half of the original spots post completion of the new building, the University is exploring ways that they can potentially increase parking on campus.
Benjamin Demianiuk, the director of business, said that their team is trying to find a way to increase the number of spaces in lot 5.
The student residence parking in front of the West Residence building has also taken a hit but not as substantial as the pay and display lot. Before construction there was 35 spaces, throughout the construction there are 28, and when the student’s centre is completed there will be 30 spaces.
The parking issue is not new to the students, professors and members of the community who frequent the university’s campus. With approximately 2100 permitted spaces, and 280 pay and display spaces there are often shortages in spaces for drivers.
While the construction is ongoing, Demianuik and the parking department are urging the construction workers to carpool and to park right in the construction site, to reduce the amount of spots that are being taken up by their teams.
At the beginning of each new school year there are posts on UMentioned Laurentian with users asking if there is a “way to get around the parking situation on campus.”
Some users say that parking in The Pit (lot 15) isn’t as bad as people claim that it is.
Marley Ransom, a second year BBA student said that “Parking in the pit isn’t as bad as people make it seem. Students just like to complain because they’re lazy.”
Others, like Alex Burton, are not in favour of lot 15 primarily because of its location, especially when the temperature begins to drop.
“I don’t mind the walk but when its -35, it’s absolutely brutal” Burton said.
Some students also think that clearing the walking paths or having a better system in place would benefit them.
“[A] clear walking path out of the pit to the main road would be nice because [as of] right now there is no clear path” Burton continued.
Kennedy Sikora, a second year BioMed student, also dislikes the far walk in the cold. “By the time I get to where I’m going I’m out of breath and can’t feel my fingers” Sikora said. She also mentioned that having stairs or a more clear path would be beneficial.
However, some students are against the parking system on campus entirely and will go as far as parking off campus at Bell Park and catching the bus to campus. One user even stated that they risked getting parking tickets and as it works out to less than what it would have been to buy a pass.
Demianuik and his team are also “investigating to see if [they] can adjust the parking barrier locations in lot 15 to make it easier to maneuver the lot while also adding additional needed spaces”.