Construction will continue to impact Texas Tech campus parking

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TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY – Along with new books, new classes and new clothes, students can expect more than 250 new
parking spaces when they return for the fall semester. But as construction begins on the Texas
Tech Parkway, nearly 1,000 other spaces may be lost.

Approximately 200 spaces are
being created in the C-1 commuter lot, located west of Jones SBC Stadium, and about 75 will be
in the Z-1 lot, located south of 8th Street.

Crews are repaving and repainting the stadium
spaces so they fit more easily in the lot. Most of the spaces will face east and west, rather than
north and south.

Approximately 400 spaces were lost last spring when construction on the
stadium began. The changes will leave the campus approximately 125 spaces shorter than
before construction began, said Mike Ellicott, vice chancellor for facilities planning and construction.

In addition, construction will begin on a parking garage at the corner of Flint Avenue and
18th Street by early September, Ellicott said.

This summer, crews worked to realign
portions of Flint Avenue and 18th Street in preparation of the garage. The streets should be
reopened by the time school starts, Ellicott said.

The garage should be finished by next
August, he said.

The garage would host more than 750 spaces throughout the four-level
structure.

Its completion will alleviate parking problems that may arise from the construction
of Texas Tech Parkway, which is set to run from the intersection of 19th Street and Indiana Avenue
turning west along the south side of the west commuter lots to Brownfield Highway, across 4th
Street and ending up at the intersection of Quaker Avenue and Loop 289, Ellicott said.
Construction for the parkway will begin in May 2002 at the earliest, Ellicott said.

“What we
want to do is route a lot of traffic that drives through campus on Indiana and Flint onto Texas Tech
Parkway,” he said. “That will take a lot of through traffic out of campus and make it more pedestrian
friendly.”

In addition, the parkway will provide easier access to visitors to the university,
said Art Glick, assistant to the vice president for operations.

“What that does is let visitors
come to university from interstate traffic, the airport and from the loop down into campus,” he said.
“If you’ve ever tried to come down Indiana from the north loop to campus, it is tedious, and Quaker
is not a whole lot easier. It will provide much better defined access to campus.”

However,
the parkway will run directly through the university’s west commuter lots, eliminating most of the 900
spaces now available, Glick said.

“It’s going to wipe it out,” Glick said. “For all practical
purposes, and particularly during construction, it won’t be available anyway.”

Glick said the
plan is to construct a park n’ ride lot with bus and bicycle access west of the parkway and north of
10th Street.

“Hopefully it’s less scary knowing that we are trying to build additional parking
to compensate for the loss of those 900 to 1000 spaces,” Glick said. “With the construction going
on on campus it’s going to be bad enough getting around for the next couple years without having
to worry about those spaces.”

The new lot will be constructed with grant funds, and may
be completed in more than one phase.

Ellicott said the project has the first $990,000 and
is still waiting for word on other funds.

“We’ve passed a couple of the initial hurdles,” he
said. “We’re just waiting for appropriations.”

Although a timeline has not been set, Ellicott
said the Parkway should not run through the commuter lots until at least the first phase of the new
park n’ ride is finished. Once construction begins, the parkway would take approximately 12 to 14
months to complete, he said.

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