By Mark Bauer/editor-in-chief

Students returning to campus for the spring semester may have been met with parking woes that developed from the district’s growing pains.

As plans get underway that will eventually lead to changes on all TCC campus parking lots, NE Campus is the first to experience the effects.

“The parking lot is being modified [on NE] for pedestrian access,” David Hoelke, director of system infrastructure and engineering, said, “Paths from parking to campus are being enhanced for better lighting.”

In addition to the walking paths being constructed throughout the parking lot, the district is installing a road on the east side of campus to encourage heavier traffic to go around the parking lot, rather than through it.

Ultimately, Hoelke said, it will provide a clearer, safer path away from cars.

The construction is scheduled to be complete by spring break, but spring rains may put a damper on those plans.

“The cold and rain slow this kind of work down,” he said.

In the meantime, the campus has arranged to use NRH20’s parking lot as an overflow lot should students need the extra parking.

Though it was an increase in capacity that triggered changes to the parking lots, safety and security were also priority, Hoelke said. 

“[Safety] was probably more of an important part of the planning,” he said. “It was paramount.”

Hoelke said that as part of TCC’s continued construction plans, all parking lots on each campus will eventually be equipped with code blue emergency phone boxes, something that many universities in Texas already provide.

The district is also replacing the lighting on campuses, for safety purposes, from lights that produce a yellow glow to those that illuminate more crisply and white.