Chantal Melanson loves driving her black Mazda 3 to and from campus – until she has to find a place to park it, that is.
She’s one of the many students at St. Thomas University who are extremely frustrated with the university’s parking accommodations.
“I leave STU to run a 20 minute errand and it winds up taking me just as long – if not longer – to get a parking spot when I return to campus,” Melanson said.
This is a typical scenario for permit owners.
While the university is constantly growing, some things remain the same – the parking lots. Every day, hundreds of faculty members and thousands of students have to fight for spaces in the two parking lots available at STU. In total, there are only 600 spots
With the addition of the New Brunswick Community College to UNB’s campus in 2011, new anxieties awaken for those who already fight for a spot in the lot.
According to Bill MacLean, director of facilities management at STU, the university is prepared for the influx of student drivers once the NBCC is up and running.
“It is my understanding that improvements are planned for the parking area next to Chapman Field which will permit better management of that lot,” he said, “and that improvements are planned for the parking area between [the] WU and the Aitken Centre which will add approximately 100 spaces.”
This will be crucial for students like Melanson. When there are no parking spots available in the Holy Cross or Vanier Hall parking lots, STU drivers must idle for an open spot or park off campus at the WU Centre.
STU students aren’t the only ones facing parking lot dissatisfaction. Down the hill, 300 students have joined a Facebook group titled “UNB Parking is TERRIBLE.”
Robert Snively, group administrator, said parking isn’t very high on the university’s priority list.
“The main parking lots that are used are the ones in front of the SUB and by the soccer field and they do not accommodate nearly enough for the students driving,” he said. “With the parking lot as it is, there is a lot of wasted space and it forces people to make up their own parking spots just to try and fit in somewhere and this usually results in getting a ticket.”
According to MacLean though, parking is not only a frustration for students, but a safety issue as well.
“I am most concerned about the safety of drivers who stop on Dineen/Duffy Drive or the entrance to the Vanier parking lot,” he said. “Drivers are putting themselves and others at risk when they stop/hold in streets or traffic flow areas.”
When there are few easily accessible parking spots available on either campus, cars must either patiently wait on the sidelines of the lot, or drive in circles desperately staring at every pedestrian walking through, in hopes they’ll be the owner of a parked vehicle.
