Campus construction and changes improve parking conflicts

The University of Mississippi struggles with on-campus parking during construction taking place in hope to find a better solution in the fall.

2014 parking garage construction adjacent to the Vaught-Hemingway football

stadium on the University of Mississippi campus

As the University of Mississippi grows in population, the area size has seemed to stay the same. In an article in the Daily Mississippian, http://thedmonline.com/parking-garage-construction-to-cut-600-parking-spots/, Elizabeth Sales states that, “…the faculty, students and their cars have outgrown this campus.” Each class expands in number; and every year they’re the “biggest freshman class to come through Ole Miss.”

Parking garage construction has now eliminated about 440 commuter and 112 faculty/staff spots in the two phase process. The parking garage, aiming to be done by the start of the fall semester, will have 829 spots open.

According to Mike Harris, director of parking and transportation for the university, “around 350 spaces will be sold to faculty/staff at around $500 per year. The remaining spaces will be open to anyone. Spaces will be sold on time, $2 for the first hour and $1 for each additional hour up to a maximum $10 per 24 hours.”

To help with explaining the issues and showing people the problem areas, the university put together a “Construction News and Updates Website” that can be found at beautiful.olemiss.edu

Also in this interview he revealed that there will be construction of 250 commuter parking spots on Jeanette Phillips Drive.

When the issue concerning the upcoming freshman class was brought up, he explained the options being discussed right now. For either option, there will be a new “Park-N-Ride” lot off campus.

They are stuck between the school selling one residential permit per spot and those who do not buy theirs soon enough have to buy a “Park-N-Ride” permit, or to sell everyone a residential pass and if there are not available spots, the student will have to go to the open parking lot.

A transit system will be available all day between “Park-N-Ride” and campus, but after 5 it will be an on call system.

After he told me all about the ideas in the air, he stressed that, “These are only being discussed and there has not been any decision up to this point on the direction that Residential Parking will go next fall. We are hoping to have a decision soon.”

Freshman international studies major, Ellie Bond, expressed her concerns about next year’s commuter parking, “I don’t like the fact that I have to pay to park in a parking garage. I mean, don’t have to pay to park in a parking lot right now every hour I want to park there.”

She also gave her opinion on next year’s “Park-N-Ride.” She pointed out that in a town like Oxford, students come back to campus at 1 or 2 in the morning pretty often. It’s scary to think about students waiting in a parking lot off campus for a bus to come pick them up.

She states, “Coming here as a freshman is already a hard enough adjustment without having to worry about how far away from your dorm you may have to park your car.”