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Boise State expands parking
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Many have noticed the construction of the new parking structure south of the Student Union Building. The structure will eventually have a total of 900 spaces, 750 of which will be in the garage and 150 in the surface lot. Several locations were considered by the Facilities Planning Council. The Lincoln and University Drive location was chosen based on the proposed expansion that Boise State is moving toward. The parking structure will be accessible from Beacon and Belmont, reducing traffic near The Quad and on University Drive and will one day be a central location for all traffic.
“As of now parking is essentially concentrated in two areas: near the current garage and academic center. This new garage will add a significant concentration of parking to this third location,” said Jared Everett, executive director of campus safety and transportation.
The expansions that have already begun on campus, such as the Student Union expansion and Student Health, Wellness and Counseling facilities have reduced parking spaces significantly. Due to this loss, a portion of the University Facilities fee that students pay to attend BSU will be used to fund the project. The total cost of the garage, lot and office spaces that will be in the garage is $11.4 million.
A new parking permit will be offered by the Parking and Transportation Department. The General Plus permit will supplement the reserved permit will eventually be sold for the new garage and available for the discounted price of $171.50 for up to three years or as long as the Parking Department is financially able to have it available. The General Plus permit will be valid for the new garage and the stadium lot only. After 5 p.m. the permits can be used for cross-parking privileges in all general and most reserved lots, excluding parking garage number one and the visitor lots. Students can get on the waiting list for the General Plus permit now to avoid a sell-out situation, similar to what occurs with most general and reserved permit sales.
On average the general permits are oversold by three to four permits per space since there are no sales limits. The reserved permits are only oversold by 1.1-1.5 permits per space, which ensures most reserved permit holders more space availability and options. According to Everett, parking citations have not increased due to the parking construction on campus.
During construction both reserved and general permit holders are displaced. Spots are eliminated, forcing those who used to park in the lot south of the SUB to park in other places; thus shifting other permit holders to lots farther away than anticipated when they purchased their reserved permits earlier this year. To compensate, the Parking Department offered reserved permits in the nearest available lot and gave purchasers the option to downgrade to a general permit if they weren’t happy with the closest reserved lot.
“Construction zones are always an inconvenience, however not building more parking is a worse inconvenience. To reduce the impact we are doing three things,” said Everett.
Those three things include expanding the general lot near the Engineering Building, the addition of 119 more general spaces near the recently-purchased property near University Inn, and houses near Belmont and Lincoln streets are scheduled for demolition to be converted to a general parking lot. Along with those projects, Everett recommended students be aware of the possible reduction of parking spaces in the west stadium due to construction of the stadium suites and the Student Union lot due to the expansion project, which is scheduled to last from May to August 2007.
“Thankfully this is between semesters, but summer students may still feel a pinch,” said Everett. So far the construction of the new lot has gone as scheduled and is projected to be completed by August 10, 2007 right before the fall semester begins."
Fall 2007 Parking Permit Guide
| Permit Type | Cost |
| Student General | $92.00 |
| Student General Plus | $171.50 |
| Student Reserved | $251.00 |
| Employee General | $137.00 |
| Employee General Plus | $216.50 |
| Employee Reserved | $296.00 |
JESSICA WIGLEY
News Writer
