Parking crunch coming this fall
Campus construction projects scheduled to begin this summer and fall mean the number of available parking stalls will dwindle by 1,500-1,800 by September.
Permit prices will increase $25 to help cover building a replacement parking structure. This raises prices to $425, $675 and $1,015.
Transportation Services director Lance Lunsway says that many campus and UW Hospital employees who have parking permits this year may not be able to get one for the 2004-05 academic year.
“We’ve been concerned for a number of years that new building construction is cutting deeper and deeper into the parking supply,” Lunsway says. “Next year, we will finally reach the point where some campus employees who are accustomed to receiving an annual parking assignment may not receive one.”
Lunsway says construction will partially or completely eliminate parking in lots 4, 38, 51, 59, 63W, 67 and 76. While many of those spaces will be permanently eliminated, Lunsway says the parking supply will return to current levels in fall 2005. That’s when a 1,285-stall parking ramp will be completed at the current site of lot 76 near the Nielsen Tennis Stadium.
The major initiatives with the greatest impact on parking include: the BioStar Initiative, a $317 million program to expand the biological sciences that will include a microbial sciences building at the site of lot 38; a children’s hospital, which will affect Lot 63-West; and the West Campus Cogeneration Facility, which will provide power, heat and air conditioning for new and existing facilities on campus. The Cogen plant is displacing the Walnut Street Greenhouses to Lot 59.
Construction of the Veterinary Diagnostic Lab on Lot 4 and the USDA Cereal Lab on Lot 67 are also expected to gobble up several hundred parking spaces.
Lunsway says employees applying for permits should be sure to list four choices on their applications.
“Only signing up for one lot — particularly those lots that are being eliminated or reduced in size — will increase the risk of not receiving a permit,” Lunsway says. “Those who have been assigned the same lot for years may find that they are not offered their first or second choice when the annual assignments are made.”
Employees will apply online using the My UW–Madison portal starting Friday, April 30. The deadline to apply is Friday, May 28, and parking assignment offers will be e-mailed to customers Friday, July 16. New employees or those needing assistance should check with their unit parking coordinators. Only lots that are available for parking will be shown on the application forms.
Parking alternatives available
The 2004-05 academic year may be the time to weigh the benefits of trading a parking permit for less expensive, more environmentally friendly alternatives.
“Employees have many reasons why they think they can’t get by without an expensive parking permit. But there is almost always a way we can make their commute less expensive, and in some cases quicker and easier,” says Renee Callaway, coordinator of Transportation Demand Management, who consults with people who have decided to stop driving to campus every day.
Taking a Madison Metro bus is the most popular and least expensive alternative to driving, Callaway says, thanks to a university contract with Madison Metro that allows all university and UW Hospital employees to receive free bus passes.
“Not only do bus riders save the cost of parking, they also save on gas, insurance and other costs associated with driving every day,” Callaway says.
Other transportation alternatives include biking, walking, park and ride, flex parking, car and van pools and car sharing. For information, visit http://www.fpm.wisc.edu/tdm or contact Callaway, 263-1034, rcallaway@fpm.wisc.edu.