Blue parking pass holders at the University of Idaho might have a harder time finding parking in the 2012-2013 school year if Parking and Transportation Services (PTS) proposed changes are passed.
The proposed changes include transitioning the overnight parking lot near Sweet Avenue from a designated blue lot (60) to a more commuter-accessible red lot, Rebecca Couch, parking and transportation information specialist said.
The proposal also creates more purple parking spaces. Red lot 6 (on College Avenue) and a portion of green lot 111 (behind Mary E. Forney Hall) would be converted to purple and create an additional 94 purple spaces.
A $5 price increase to the red parking pass and a $10 increase to residential parking passes (purple, silver, green) would result from proposed changes.
“The blue overnight lot 60 has a lot of debt attached to it still and needs to create more revenue,” Couch said. “We wanted to discontinue the overnight parking within the lot because in the winter, those cars that are parked overnight cause trouble for snow removal.”
A large portion of the area will become an Intermodal Transit Center (ITC), Couch said, and construction efforts will takeover much of the space beginning next summer.
The ITC will take up approximately 100 spaces in lot 60 and will be located on the corner of Sweet and Railroad avenues. Construction is scheduled to begin next summer if the proposal is accepted.
Couch said the department has received a significant amount of feedback from the lot change proposal.
“There have been a lot of comments from people that do not want the blue lot to be changed,” Couch said. “Most of the feedback has come from university employees who work around or at the Student Union Building. They feel like there needs to be an accessible lot to the east side of campus,” she said.
Couch said PTS has listened to the comments and will discuss other options to satisfy those against the proposed lot changes.
Director of Parking and Transportation Services Carl Root said he and others created specific objectives within the proposal.
“We want to continue to improve pricing between the gold, red and residential parking passes, which is why we had the slight price increase,” Root said. “We also need to increase revenue within PTS to add bike racks around campus and to maintain the various parking lots.”
Root said current revenue makes it difficult to maintain lots and parking facilities campus-wide. Changing the blue 60 overnight lot to a red commuter lot will increase revenue, and allow space for construction of the ITC center, which is predicted to start next summer.
“We learn what people like and don’t like about certain areas of parking with these proposals and we like to try and meet the needs of everyone who has something to say,” Root said.
Root said final decisions will be made by the end of December 2011 or early January 2012.