Student Life ArchivesA discrepancy over parking rights put the University at odds with the St. Louis transportation company Metro this week.
Students living on a stretch of University Drive learned last week that they could not park on the street for the next month while Metro moves in heavy construction supplies. As of early yesterday afternoon, Washington University officials knew nothing about the restriction.
“There has been little to no communication between Metro and the University, and it’s really not fair to students,” said Assistant Director of Building Services Jim Severine.
By yesterday evening, Severine had obtained a 24-hour reprieve from Metro to deal with the situation, but he said that deliveries would start up again on Thursday.
Only the street space in front of 6639 to 6811 University Drive will be affected by construction deliveries, which Metro will bring in from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Students will still be allowed to park on the street on weekends and after 4 p.m. on weekdays.
Severine said yesterday that students living in the affected area would be given temporary green parking permits, which would allow them to park in Lot #4, east of Brookings. Students can pick up the passes-usually reserved for University employees-this morning in the Village office.
A spokesman for Metro explained that the transportation company in fact controls the rights to the road.
“That portion of the street there is actually privately owned,” said Cathie Farroll, the project communications manager for MetroLink Cross County. “Metro obtained a construction easement, which gives us the right to use that property anytime we need to.”
Farroll said Metro, which paid for the easement, would try to limit the restriction to only 30 business days. If they finish sooner, she said, they will lift the parking restriction.
Severine said he doesn’t expect the company to finish early.
“I kind of take that with a grain of salt,” said Severine. “[Bad weather] could delay some of it. And you’ve seen how construction has been so far,” he said, alluding to numerous setbacks in the MetroLink expansion project, which is set for completion by May 2006.
As for students, disregarding the warning could prove hazardous to their vehicles.
“The contractor may have vehicles towed away because it won’t be safe for the vehicle to park there,” said Farroll. “Or they’ll attempt to do the work there, and the vehicle will be in danger of being crushed.”
Students learned about the prohibition after Metro posted signs, both in apartments and on the street, and stuck flyers in the windshields of cars parked on University Drive.
“I expect that students aren’t going to be too happy about it,” said Severine. “But I think they also understand that this is not a University project, and they would be a victim of this if they were non-University residents.”
During the day, the “beep-beep-beep” of a dump truck in reverse echoes through the neighborhood. On rainy days, the dust in the street turns to muck. Now, students say, they’ll have nowhere to park.
“I think it’s absolutely ridiculous,” said Rumana Hussain, an R.A. who lives in the affected area. “Each building has four spots behind it, and for the entire street to be restricted from parking just doesn’t make any sense.”
University Drive resident Becky Bernard agreed that the restriction is “ridiculous” and said there were rarely parking spaces left in the lot behind her apartment.
“We have like a little tiny dirt lot behind our place, but a lot of times it’s full so we park on the street,” she said.
Bernard said she generally always parks in the same spot out in front of her apartment.
“There’s not any space out on University Drive,” said Bernard. “It’s such a long road, and it’s usually filled with cars every day.”
She said she would definitely pick up a temporary parking permit when the University offered it.
Parking spots behind the apartments will be in high demand, said Severine, and will go first-come, first-served.
Farroll said students could choose to park on the street “at their own risk.”
“We understand that if it’s where you normally park, it’s inconvenient,” she said. “But having the side of your vehicle crushed is also inconvenient.”