Campus parking lots to be revamped for the upcoming fall semester

MYLEE WALKER reporter

Parking services started construction on parking lots right after spring commencement. They will be working on them all throughout the summer to have them done for the fall semester. If not done by move-in, they will continue to block off the lots that need to be fixed until they are finished. The funds for the project come from students and staff from permit sales and citations.

“All of our money we generate goes toward projects like this. Whether it is snow removal, lighting, maintenance or anything that goes into parking. Langendorf said. “We don’t get money from the state, we make that money through permit sales, parking meters and citations.”

Parking services director Tony Langendorf said the lots were in need of an update.

“We have a maintenance schedule where we fill the parking lots with specialized products for the first two years and then we use tar sealant,” Langendorf said. “At about 20-25 years the lots reach the end of their life cycle. Then it is time to redo them.”

They are currently on schedule and are set to be done by move-in.

“If we don’t hit the deadline, we will have to keep working on them. None of them are able to be parked on at the moment,” Langendorf said, “We would have to delay the lottery and we would have to utilize the parking lots that are available for students and staff.”

They also are making some of the lots safer for pedestrians and drivers.

“When we redo them we also, like in Lot E and Lot A, look at pedestrian traffic safety, vehicle traffic safety and the interactions between the two. We make a model that makes the two flow as efficiently and as safe as possible,” Langendorf said.

Construction hasn’t only been about the pavement, however. They are also doing improvements on the lighting of the parking lots as well.

“We are removing the high mount lights and replacing them with low level LEDs,” Langendorf said.“They are more energy efficient, they are better for the environment and they are better for maintenance. The high level lights have a lot of light waste. The low level ones are directly where they need to be.”

Not all lots are getting the same treatments. Some are getting paved, some are getting new lights, and some are getting redone completely.

“This year we are repaving the old concrete on Lot 7, Lot 9 and the red lots. Lot 8 and Lot B are just getting lighting improvements, and Lot E is getting a total redesign,” Langendorf said.

Despite the amount of work that needs to be done, Langendorf is confident they can get the work done before students flood back into campus.

“We anticipate that everything will be done on schedule,” Langendorf said.“The contractors are moving along, so if everything goes as planned, we can make the deadline.”

The overall goal for this construction is to make the parking lots a safer place.

“Parking services’ job is to make parking safe for students, faculty, staff, guests, and just anyone who needs it,” Langendorf said. “We are going to make it safer for pedestrians and vehicles. Interaction and traffic should flow better.”