Lot I reopens, permits now available to freshmen

Lot I reopened Jan. 23, coinciding with the opening of the Whitetop and Rogers residence halls. (Jake McLernon)

Parking Lot I, which reopened at the start of spring semester after nearly two years of closure during the construction of the Whitetop and Rogers residence halls, is now available as a parking option to freshmen alongside Lot J.

Lot I was a reserved upperclassman parking area before its closure, but it was opened to freshmen due to a surplus of available permits and high projected demand, according to director of Parking and Transportation Services Josh Cantor. Due to renovation of the Commons buildings, many freshmen were moved into the newly opened Whitetop and Rogers residence halls prior to the start of the spring semester.

There is a caveat, however.  Freshmen with Lot I and J permits are only allowed to park outside of their designated lots after 8 p.m. on weekdays.  This is to preserve space for commuters, according to Cantor.

Parking Services plans to allow freshmen access to Lots I and J next year as well, even though freshmen will only be housed in Whitetop and Rogers for the duration of the Commons renovation.  Although plans have not yet been finalized, it is possible that upperclassmen will be given a few weeks to purchase Lot I and J permits this summer before sales are opened to freshman.

“We’ll announce our 2012-13 permit sales plans by late spring,” said Cantor.

Parking Services has sold 170 Lot I permits as of 4:30 p.m. on Jan. 23, with a projected target of 300 sales.

“The actual number of residents or commuters buying dictates what we can ultimately sell—the more residents, the less permits we can sell since their [resident's] cars typically won’t move as much,” said Cantor.

The opening of Lots I and J to freshmen has resulted in a predicted drop in the use of the West Campus Parking Lot, but Cantor does not view this as a downside.  He hopes that Parking Serivces will actually be able to sell more discounted West Campus permits if freshmen are accommodated in Lots I and J.