Parking problems continue to plague WIU

By:

Posted: 9/28/98

When most students on this campus have early morning classes, it can become a hindrance to walk across campus to class. Especially for those living in the North Quad, the upcoming months of rain and snow can really make the voyage tough.

Solution: Students can drive to class. Problem: They can't park anywhere near the class buildings.

Unless students come prepared with a handful of quarters, they can't park in the spaces that are reserved for students because of the meters.

WIU has to do something to improve the parking situation on campus. By fixing this problem, the university could help improve enrollment by showing that the university is dedicated to making the campus convenient for students.

An idea would be to build parking decks or garages. This would provide many more parking spots for students and wouldn't take up as much space as many lots would take.

Another problem that needs to be corrected with the parking at WIU is with the right to park in the dorm hall parking lots.

Since it comes on a first-come, first-serve basis, only a minimal number of students are allowed to purchase a pass to park in the dorm parking lots.

Everybody else has to park in the Q-lots and must walk further to get back to the residence halls. It seems that it would be better and more convenient to give all driving residents of each hall the right to park in the lots. If there are open spots in the lot, a student should have the right to park in one instead of having to park in Q-lot. They shouldn't have to pass up a half-empty parking lot at the dorm halls.

There has been an ongoing problem with parking for the last few years. The student body deserves a permanent solution.