When University of Wisconsin students return to campus this fall, 1,500 to 1,800 parking spaces in the campus area will be eliminated, Transportation Services announced last week.
The drastic decrease in parking is the result of several campus-area construction projects, which are looking to improve parking facilities, including a new structure near Nielsen Tennis Stadium expected to be completed by the fall of 2005, according to a statement from the Transportation Services. The new structure is expected to add 1,285 new stalls for university employees, enough to return the number of available parking spaces to current levels.
The statement also reported permit costs will increase by $25 to aid in the cost of building the new parking structure. The permits will cost $425, $625 and $1,015, depending on the location of the lot, beginning in August when new parking contracts will go into effect.
Other construction projects that will eliminate or infringe upon current parking lots include the Biostar Initiative at the current site of Lot 38, a children’s hospital at Lot 63-West and the West Campus Cogeneration Facility, which will move the Walnut Street Greenhouses to Lot 59.
City Council president Mike Verveer said the decrease in parking is more of an issue for university employees than students.
“Forever, students really have not had the option to park on campus,” Verveer said. “It is extremely difficult if not impossible to get an on-campus permit for students.”
Verveer said faculty and staff will need to walk further distances to get to work or take the city bus.
“Faculty and staff, including UW Hospital employees, have free Madison Metro passes,” Verveer said.
UW-Madison junior Jill Kelsey said the parking shortage will affect her decision to buy a car this summer.
“I am considering not purchasing a vehicle due to the shortage of parking next year,” Kelsey, who lives near State Street, said. “If faculty and staff that do not receive permits park in the public parking spaces it will be too much of a hassle for me to park downtown.”
Jaci Herbst, a UW junior, is also concerned about the shortage.
“Part of the reason I live off-campus is because on-campus parking is too expensive and usually full. If students want to have a car in Madison, they will likely have to move off-campus, too.”
Free bus passes for students and staff are available at Transportation Services, 124 WARF building and the Transportation Information Place (TIP) in the Memorial Union.
