Construction for the new business building, Crawford Hall, has created challenges with traffic and parking on campus since March.

Staff and students are finding it difficult to adjust to the parking and traffic around the construction. Parking Services manager Larry Emling said he has met with the architecture and buildings team weekly to best accommodate staff and students.

Whether staff and students are walking or driving to class, construction on campus added some detours. “It’s harder to enter White Hall with the construction, which makes my walk to class a little longer,” Elizabeth Charlton, a junior education major, said.

This set-back does not only affect students; professors are also finding it difficult to adjust to changes in parking lots. “My professor was half an hour late to class because she couldn’t find anywhere to park,” Charlton said.

Permit sales were cut down significantly this year due to the loss of parking spaces around construction. Parking services staff converted a Commuter (C) lot near White Hall to a non-restricted faculty/staff (R16) lot.

“Anything that can be done has been done up until now,” Emling said. Parking Services sent out nearly 20,000 emails to students in early July making them aware of the changes and their parking options.

The C lot by the Center for Performing Arts has become the biggest space for C lot permits, holding about 500 spots. Emling said the Performing Arts lot gets close to full almost every day.

Once the Performing Arts parking lot fills, Parking Services recommend students park in the C lot around the Ice Arena.

The Parking Services is aware that students may not be able to find the most convenient spots. “If that side of campus is full and you’re telling someone to go from Performing Arts to the Ice Arena [which we’ve had to do in the past], it’s not always well received,” Emling said. “We’ll get as many people in there as we can, we don’t want to have space sitting empty if someone can take advantage of it.”

Parking Services adjusted to these changes by adding a 60-car C lot near the architecture building and Rockwell Hall. “We lost close to 400 spaces, but it does help in that area of the campus,” Emling said.

Construction on campus is not an abnormal sight to see, but it is a significant adjustment for both the people organizing the construction and parking lots and the people working around it.

Crawford Hall is currently being built on Terrace Drive. The construction started March 8, 2022, and is expected to be finished in 2025.

Macy Rosen is a reporter. Contact her at [email protected].