Parking services feels your pain; changes coming to Central
January 28, 2016
For years Central students have griped about the lack of parking spots and expensive parking passes.
Though there is some argument whether the problem is an actual lack of parking or just laziness among students, in this case, it seems that lack of parking is the real issue.
It’s no secret that every weekday, starting at around 8 a.m., finding a parking spot on campus becomes a tedious and almost impossible task.
Twitter user Kazia Starkenburg tweeted, “Few things I’m over; Being cold, men wearing women’s leggings at the gym, being cold, CWU parking, and being cold.”
For those who live off campus, finding a parking spot requires students to leave their houses 30 minutes or more before class just to increase their chances of finding a parking spot.
Another Central student took to twitter to complain about the lack of parking. Diego O’Brien tweeted out, “Yeah CWU we didn’t need more parking or a bigger weight room, we needed a new science building. Cause so many top scientists here.”
Bill Yarwood, executive director for Capital Planning and Projects, said he recognizes that parking and transportation are concerns on campus and that they need to be addressed and updated.
Yarwood said he and his colleagues at Facilities Management are in the process of updating Central’s master plan.
They’re looking into areas around campus that have parking needs and are working together to make sure that the new parking will work in relation to the current planning and building around campus, according to Yarwood.
Several meetings will take place next week with the administration to compose a revised draft of the master plan, he said.
“Parking is definitely an issue, and it’s an issue that is going to be addressed,” Yarwood said.
A key part of the success of the plan is specific feedback and constructive criticism from students. Complaining that “parking sucks” simply will not do, Yarwood said.
Yarwood said they need to know specific concerns in order to make adequate changes to parking.
Yarwood said he is not only looking into adding parking spots, but also updating the permits and usage of the existing lots.
Many students who live off campus choose to trudge through the snow and slush just to avoid paying for the yearly $300 parking pass.
“I never buy passes anymore because, when I do, I can never find a spot,” said Kaitlin Pfeifer, senior double major in Spanish and supply chain management.
Pfeifer said she believes Parking Services oversells parking passes for the amount of parking spaces provided on campus.
However, not every student feels the parking pains.
Maryellen Hammrich, freshman education major, thinks parking is fine and hasn’t come across any major issues with it.
Hammrich said she doesn’t mind buying a parking pass because she can just charge it to her student account, rather than paying for it straight out of her own pocket.
Hammrich said she “always seems to find a spot.”
Hammrich’s outlook on parking may seem rare because many students aren’t satisfied.
Megan Griffin • Jan 29, 2016 at 5:36 pm
I totally agree that CWU’s parking situation is completely out of control. The university is making thousands of dollars overselling $300 parking passes that are pretty much useless because there are NEVER any spots open, even when you arrive 30mins early. Regardless of the lack of parking spots, students still have to get to class, and they can’t just drive home and walk back, so sometimes out of desperation or the lack of clearly marked parking lots (with the four or five parking lots near the SURC that are all tangled up with each other, only separated by a curb, it is very confusing where students are allowed to park and where they are not) students end up parked in restricted areas and then get charged a $25 parking ticket on top of the $300 they already paid for the useless parking pass, oh, and also the $100,000 they are already paying for their degree.
The university either needs to create more parking spaces, or it needs to stop taking advantage of students and stop overselling ridiculously expensive parking passes. At Shoreline Community College for example, it costs $15, THAT’S ONLY FIFTEEN DOLLARS, for an entire quarter’s worth of parking. Where is all of this money going to? Aren’t students financially abused enough with the ridiculous price of tuition, $400 textbooks that they only use once and can never sell back to the Wildcat Shop, and the thousands of dollars CWU likes to arbitrarily charge them in fees throughout the year?
Brittany • Jan 29, 2016 at 2:16 pm
As a student who lived on campus for the first three years of my education at CWU I would have said no there was no problem. This is because when you live on campus, you walk to all of your classes and generally only leave campus and need spots again in the afternoons and evenings, when parking is easier to find. This, my fourth year, I chose to live off campus, and it is IMPOSSIBLE to find parking for my 9am class unless I get to campus 30+ minutes early and idle around the parking lot until I am in the right place at the right time to get a spot before the 50 other people doing the same thing. To be clear I am speaking about the parking lots near the SURC, Black Hall, and Boullion Hall. I did not purchase a parking pass this year because I realized this was going to be a problem in the first week of fall quarter. The SURC parking lot is not the only problem though, I have attempted to park farther from my class by parking over by Barto and the Music Building, and have also tried parking over by the Parkin Office I face the same problem every day no matter where I try to park. I do not know what types of specific concerns Parking is looking for other than there are not enough spots for students who commute to class every day as well as students who live on campus and have their cars parked in lots that are 24/7.