Many students have recently voiced concerns about the lack of parking spaces available on campus.
Because of overcrowded parking lots on campus, particularly in the Blue Zone, both commuters and non-commuters have had difficulty finding places to park their cars, leading to student frustration as well as safety concerns. Several students have called for the administration to address this problem and have utilized the Fix My Campus Facebook page to express their concerns in the past few weeks.
“This is a tiring battle,” senior Matt Peterson said. “It’s something the administration needs to prioritize both for the convenience and the safety of the students.”
He explained that many drivers have been parking their cars on the ends of parking rows and in other unofficial locations, which increases the potential for accidents. Senior Kamry Goodwin also said that people making their own parking spaces in the Blue Zone often forces cars to struggle through tight spaces to back out or maneuver around.
"I’ve been buying a Blue Zone pass for the past three years and haven’t had many problems," Goodwin said. "But people are paying money for these passes, and the fact that they can’t get into spots they paid for is an issue...There used to be a bit more clarification about where people can park, and if they’re going to ticket us when we can’t find a parking space."
Senior Luke Wolf, co-director of Fix My Campus, said that parking has been a “debacle” this year, noting that he has been late to class because of it.
“When you buy a parking pass, the expectation is that you’ll be able to park and get to where you need to go—and that expectation has not been met,” he said.
Wolf added that in the past two weeks, there have been more than 10 posts on the Fix My Campus Facebook page complaining about parking.
Sophomore Robert Steilberg noted that having to park at the back of the Blue Zone poses problems for students trying to get to class on time. Communication between Duke Parking and Transportation Services and students regarding where students are allowed to park on campus could be improved, Steilberg said.
The problems with parking have been occurring for years, noted Joel Luther, Trinity ’15. He explained that when he was an undergraduate, he had difficulty parking his car every day because he had a job off-campus yet did not qualify for a commuter pass. He added that he believes the University has oversold permits this year.
Carl DePinto, director of PTS, explained that the demand for parking spots in the Blue Zone always increases during the first two or three weeks of the Spring semester.
“As students’ schedules get adjusted, the demand drops off. This has been the pattern for over 10 years,” DePinto wrote in an email.
He acknowledged that recent construction on campus has impacted the number of spots available in the Blue Zone. More than 100 spaces have been lost due to the football stadium renovation, and another 10 spaces have been taken up because of a utility project.
PTS has been monitoring the Blue Zone on a daily basis, DePinto wrote. He added that the demand has already dropped off as expected.
However, additional steps have been taken to address parking conflicts on campus, such as diverting contractor parking to another location.
“We also have asked the construction project to phase in the construction work, minimizing the amount of spots impacted at one time,” he wrote.
Wolf noted that he has been working closely with Duke Student Government and PTS to develop solutions to the problem.
“Fix My Campus understands the frustration, and we’re doing our best,” he said.
Abigail Xie contributed reporting.
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