State Hornet Article

---

The location of the new bookstore has been fenced off. It will encompass 50,000 square feet. Photo by Andrew Nixon/State Hornet

Construction wipes out student parking spots

Alicia Loza-Ponce
State Hornet

April 04, 2006

Related Sites:
Click here to visit UTAPS' Web site

Original Article Website

 

 

Parking spaces in Lot 4, once a student and faculty parking lot, was cut back on Monday, due to the start of construction of the new bookstore – the remaining spaces are delegated to faculty and staff only.

Enforcement of this policy is set to take place as soon as possible and students who park in Lot 4 will be redirected to other parking lots both on and off campus, said Nancy Fox, manager of University Parking and Transportation Services.

Lot 4 is made up of 350 parking spaces. After the construction of the new bookstore, the amount of parking spaces will be reduced to about 90 spaces, Fox said.

Some students – including Jessica Wood, a geology major – disagreed with the recent shift in parking privileges.

"I think the faculty should find somewhere else to park because we're paying to be here, and they're being paid to be here," Wood said.

Freshman Erica Mendoza said faculty should not get special privileges.

"I think that parking should be first come, first serve because I don't think that faculty should get special privileges, when we're paying to be here and they're being paid. And without students they would have no reason to be here," Mendoza said.

But Fox said since it is near the end of the semester parking won't be as impacted as much as it would have been if the construction started sooner.

However, it is probable that fall semester of 2006 will most likely be the most challenging one to deal with when it comes to parking congestion, Fox said, since the completion of Parking Structure III is not estimated to open until January 2007.

Fox said everyone is being asked to use alternate commuting choices – including carpooling, public bus transportation, and biking – some to help relieve traffic congestion.

If everyone did something to help relieve some of the tension in traffic, then overall that would make a huge impact, Fox said.

While some students were bothered by the limited parking spaces being delegated to faculty and staff only, others did not say it was a problem.

Marcus Watstein, senior and computer science major, said it’s not a big deal because, according to the Destination 2010 plan, the new engineering building will also be in Lot 4, which means the area would eventually be eliminated anyway.

The new bookstore will cover 50,000 square feet, double the size of the current bookstore.

According to the university's master plan, the first floor of the current bookstore will become a food court, replacing the Riverfront Center. The third floor will likely be converted into academic and administrative offices.

Ronald Richardson, associate vice president of Facilities Services, said the Redwood trees that separate Parking Structure II from Parking Lot 4 will not be cut down.

Alicia Loza-Ponce can be reached at news@statehornet.com

---

Normally I don't get excited to be interviewed or have my name in the paper which is very rare but I has happy that Alicia published my comments, I am proud that after 4 years at Sacramento State I finally have been quoted in the paper. There is only one bad thing about the quote it isn't totally correct, I thought according to the destination 2010 master plan which can be viewed here the Engineering II building would be next to the new bookstore but in reality it is going to be Science II, Phase II and Engineering II is going to be next to the child development center. So not everyone is perfect and I wanted the readers of my blog to know that when I report the news it is always accurate as possible. If you want to read the original state hornet article the link is below the UTAPS referral link next to the picture.

posted by Unknown @ 10:36 AM   0 comments

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home