Students grapple with return to pre-COVID parking regulations

The student-designated spots in parking lot W85, which accommodates the Jepson Alumni Center and Crenshaw Field, were revised to start the school year, causing frustration among affected drivers due to parking tickets and the inconvenient location.  

Previously, students used to be able to park almost anywhere in the lot, but now they are restricted to the most remote third of the lot. Students with N parking permits, who are designated to lot W85, disapprove of this change.

“It’s really inconvenient because the lot is quite large, but we have to park in the half that’s furthest away from our dorm,” said sophomore Lily Greisch. “In the meantime, there's a parking lot that's right next to our dorm that we can’t park in, and that’s how I got a parking ticket is by parking there.”

The frequent ticketing from parking services has not helped students grapple with the learning curve. Sophomore Dakota Helgren received a ticket during her first week back on campus because of improper parking in lot W85.

“I did not expect them to ticket on the first week of school,” Helgren said.

The designated spots were changed to start transitioning back to pre-COVID-19 norms, according to Parking and Transportation Administrative Coordinator Lauren Lightfoot. 

Before the pandemic, lot W85 was primarily used for events with limited student parking, but because of COVID protocols, the lot was reconfigured to accommodate the modular units that UR used to isolate and quarantine students who contracted the disease. These units were installed at the beginning of the 2020 fall semester and completely removed from campus this past summer.

Students parking in lot W85 said they did not receive enough information about the change and that the signage only raised more questions. When students pick up their parking permit, they are given a slip of paper outlining their designated parking space, but other physical indicators in the parking lot amplify uncertainty for students.

“There is this one big, yellow line that runs down the middle,” Helgren said. “I don’t know if that’s the line that separates where I’m supposed to park or not, because also there's another sign that says residents park to the right of this sign, but that's in a different place than the line. So, it’s very confusing.”

Sophomore Emerson Lewis said that he received a $50 ticket for improper parking in lot W85 because field hockey fans had filled the designated student parking section during a home game.

Efforts have been made by Parking Services to clear up confusion among students with N permits. Over three weeks after students returned to campus, N permit holders received an email notifying them of parking violations in lot W85, and starting Sept. 18, “citations will be issued for any student vehicle parked in the middle or JAC section of the lot.”

The University of Richmond’s Parking and Transportation Office declined an interview, but Lightfoot provided a statement on behalf of the office.

“If there is some confusion, I encourage students to contact Parking Services directly to discuss any concerns or misunderstandings,” Lightfoot wrote in an email to The Collegian. “There is also a detailed digital map that could help as well.”

Parking Services maintains its policy to guarantee every student driver a spot, but because parking space is limited, some students may be assigned inconvenient spots relative to the location of their residence halls. Students, though, have their own ideas for how to improve placements.

“I think, specifically for that lot, I think that the half that is closer to the dorms should be the half for the residents, “ Helgren said. “I feel like that makes the most sense. I don’t know how often that lot gets used. Do they need that much space? I don’t really think so.”

Contact writer Marshall Lehman at marshall.lehman@richmond.edu.