New Parking Garage Could Reduce Tailgating Space
It’s no secret. Parking at UTEP has always been an issue. As the campus continues to grow, so does the demand for parking.
The University of Texas Board of Regents has approved a way to ease motorists headaches.
A new parking garage could help with the problems, but it poses a different dilemma for some.
Like the lyrics in the Andy Willams song said, “It’s the most wonderful time of the year.”
For some, there’s no better time than football: the game, the excitement and the tailgating.
But that part of the UTEP experience is getting a little smaller.
University officials said a new $12.43 million parking garage — similar in style to the one on Sun Bowl Drive — is expected to break ground in October right in the middle of the S-2 parking lot.
They explained the garage is supposed to help with the anticipated increase in demand for parking on the southern half of campus.
That’s where the construction of the College of Health Sciences/School of Nursing, the Chemistry and Computer Science buildings is happening.
“If it’s going to help traffic, I think it’s great,” said accounting student George Ibarra.
“It’s something people need here. There’s not many spaces where to park. People have been walking far away to park their cars,” explained physics student John Briceno.
Christina Rodriguez, a social sciences student said, “It definitely would be nice to reduce the traffic that goes on in the parking lots and definitely in the neighboring communities.”
But some students told ABC-7 it’s not worth it since they can’t afford a garage permit, which can run more than $200.
“Every year it keeps getting more and more expensive, and we don’t have that kind of money to be paying all that money for them. So I don’t think it’s such a good idea,” said Griselda Lopez, a chemistry student.
And the reduced tailgating space?
“If they have less spaces to tailgate — the places where they do tailgate — it’s going to be even more trashed,” Rodriguez explained.
The garage is supposed to have nearly 700 spaces. It’s scheduled to be open by the spring of 2012.
