Maine Perspective Front Page
10-Year Plan for Campus Parking, Traffic Drafted
An ad hoc committee is taking public comment this month on a draft of its 10-year traffic and parking management plan for the University of Maine that includes four scenarios involving such aspects as raising parking permit fees, establishing a shuttle bus service and constructing a parking garage.
The Ad Hoc Traffic and Parking Planning Committee expects to forward a final recommendation to UMaine President Peter Hoff in January that will be a composite of the best aspects of the four scenarios. At this point, all that is certain is that the heart of campus will be restricted to pedestrians, bicycles and emergency vehicles; and parking and traffic on campus will undergo immediate changes to meet Maine Department of Transportation requirements. All the changes have associated costs that must be borne either by the institution or end-users.
The specifics of the final recommendations on parking and traffic depend on input from the University community, says Chet Rock, chair of the Ad Hoc Committee, which posted the draft management plan to a Website (www.umaine.edu/adhoctraffic&park/default.htm) and to FirstClass (in the Campus Conversations Discussions folder).
To date, that feedback has been slow in coming.
"Keeping in mind recent student complaints that they are not informed, we created two venues for communicating the draft plan," says Committee member Sean Murphy, a graduate student who created the Website. "But even though parking has become a quality of life concern for students and is considered by many to be the No. 1 issue to resolve on campus, we have had less than a dozen comments on the plan in the first two weeks it was posted.
"After the long debates last spring and summer concerning parking on campus, it's discouraging not to have input now from the student body when it could matter most."
The committee has drawn up four possible "parking scenarios" that could be implemented in the next decade:
- Tinkering with Status Quo: All of the major lots as well as smaller lots not eliminated by DOT requirements continue to function under this option. Increases in the number of cars on campus are addressed through the implementation of small programs, traffic calming measures, and changes in course scheduling. The major components of this scenario: Initiate a car pool program, eliminate classroom peak times, establish biker/walker trails, increase parking permit fees, enhance public transportation.
- Hierarchy Parking: Many commuters are flexible with regard to where they park on campus, while others demand parking in close proximity to their workplace. This scenario creates a tiered system of parking lots, where permits to park in the "academic core" are significantly more costly than those for the outer regions. The increased revenue is used to partially fund a shuttle service. A limited pedestrian zone might also be created in the center of campus through the elimination of some interior lots. Major components of this scenario: Create proximity-based parking zones, start a campus shuttle service, change parking permit fees, enhance public transportation.
- New Convenient Parking: Under this plan, efforts focus on providing convenient parking spaces for all drivers on campus. While a limited pedestrian core is maintained, all other open spaces on campus should be evaluated as to the feasibility of their conversion to use by vehicles. The fundamental assumption is that people are willing to make financial sacrifices to park in central areas on campus. The major component of this scenario is to increase the number of parking spaces by creating new parking lots or expanding existing ones, and/or building a parking garage.
- Green Campus Model: Under this option, parking is permitted only in perimeter lots, so that central region of the campus is reserved for walkers and bikers. While the number of outer lot spaces is increased to a limited extent, the focus of initiatives is to discourage single-passenger driving to campus. Programs designed to provide incentives for reducing the number of cars on campus would be paid for primarily by those who continue to drive their vehicles on campus. Major components of this scenario: Establish perimeter lots, start a shuttle bus service, initiate a car pool program, use off-campus park and ride lots, provide incentives for biking/walking.
While change is inevitable, it will not come easy, says Murphy. "Yesterday's outrage is today's reality," he says. "For instance, around the Mall is a roadway where people used to drive and park cars. That's not acceptable today, but at the time, people were outraged at the thought of closing the Mall to traffic."
The Ad Hoc Committee on Traffic and Parking has been meeting since May. In addition to Rock and Murphy, the committee members are: Kathleen Bell, Bill Charland, Jim Dyer, Per Garder, Dave Fowler, Jon Lewis, Hank Metcalf, Alan Reynolds, Jonathan Rubin, Jane Smith, Alan Stormann, David Sturm, David Trefethen, and Anita Wihry.
The committee spent the summer reviewing current policies and procedures, past reports and recommendations, and programs at other college campuses, such as the University of Vermont and University of New Hampshire. It also has called in community experts to discuss such options as construction of a parking garage and establishment of shuttle bus service.
The campus community has until the end of November to react to the draft management plan for traffic and parking. In January, a final report with recommendations for action will be forwarded to UMaine President Peter Hoff.
Once approved, parts of the management plan will be implemented immediately in order to begin to bring campus roadways and parking areas in compliance with Maine Department of Transportation (MDOT) requirements. The committee's proposals to meet MDOT regulations include: construction of a new major access road onto campus to replace Squa Pan Road off College Avenue (the Alfond Sports Arena entrance); elimination of Belgrade Spur off Rangeley Road; construction of a pedestrian sidewalk from Park Street to Hilltop Complex, along Rangeley Road; redesign of Munson Road from Hancock to Wingate halls; reconstructing or restricting traffic in some intersections.
In addition, MDOT requirements call for the closing of 10 lots (153 parking spaces) where vehicles have to back into traffic.
Complaints about insufficient parking on campus often have to do with perceptions, says Murphy. "There always is parking available in the outer lots, but people expect that there will be a spot available close to their building whenever they want. That simply can not happen without a sizable investment in our parking infrastructure, which will have to be primarily paid for by the users of our parking system."
Having a pedestrian-oriented campus has been a long-term goal for the University, says Rock, who has been a member of the UMaine Facilities Planning Committee, which drafted a master plan for campus in 1992 that set out principles for campus organization. The 10-year management plan is based on maintaining a campus core for pedestrians only. The only question is how large that core is going to be.
"Our hope is that we can separate traffic from people," says Rock. "Currently, I think it's an unsafe environment out there between classes with people desperately looking for parking and not paying attention to pedestrians, especially those randomly crossing the roads.
"The frustration is we can't let go of the expectations - the inertia - we have about parking on campus," says Rock. "We are a community here and as such, require compromises, one of which is parking. For instance, if we opt for perimeter parking, it will take us an extra five minutes to get to where we need to go on campus, but we'll gain a tranquil campus. At the same time, we must address the parking needs of visitors and those that must have center campus access. To accomplish this, we need the input of the campus community and we expect our draft report to generate that response.