The parking schedule at University Hall is stirring up complaints from students and staff, as crowds attending events at John Paul Jones arena overflow into parking spaces at U-Hall used by University staff and students.
With the new arena now attracting artists who draw large audiences, thousands of people and their cars have been overflowing the arena's 1,500 parking spaces. This forces commuters parking at U-Hall to move their cars by a 5:30 p.m. deadline on event days at the risk of getting a ticket or being towed.
Parking and Transportation Director Rebecca White says her office is doing its best to accommodate drivers.
"Opening such a large venue with such large events is a challenge, but we've opened up some new options to address that challenge," she said.
Among those options are a low-cost parking area at the top two levels of the Emmet/Ivy garage for students, White said. Commuters should park at Emmet/Ivy instead of U-Hall on event dates, which are posted on the Parking and Transportation Web site.
Media Studies Prof. William Fishback, who now pays to park at Cabell Hall when he teaches, says he's noticed the parking situation deteriorate over his 40 years working at the University.
He noted that parking at U-Hall was already scarce prior to the opening of the new arena.
"If you're going to have events at the JPJ during the week, that's putting additional pressure on those spaces," Fishback said.
To notify the public of the changes in parking procedure, White said the Office of Parking and Transportation has posted signs in the U-Hall lot and is working with the Residential Life staff to notify students about upcoming events.
Third-year College student Becca Buckler said it is hard to know where she can and can not park, though she has not run into any problems yet.
"They send out e-mails and stuff, but if you're not constantly checking it's not really that clear," Buckler said. "I've parked in the arena a couple of times, and I don't know if that's legal or not. I'm just hoping I don't get a ticket."
Drivers will have to adapt to the policy changes for the time being, though adjustments may be made in the future, White said.
"We evaluate every single time to see what can go better," she said. "We're sticking with this model at least through Larry the Cable Guy and until the basketball season starts."
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