ALEX HOBEN
editor-in-chief
alexandra.hoben@my.tccd.edu

NW Campus’ parking availability has been cut in half with the closure of one of its two main lots.

The south parking lot was shut down for use by the students and staff on Sept. 19 as part of the next phase of campus construction. TCC health services sent out a notice Sept. 15 notifying students of the lot closure through Canvas.

The announcement had a graphic showing the campus map and the location and availability of the lots through colored highlighting. It also provided the dates that the lots would be closed. For instance, the south lot will be closed from Sept. 19 to Jan. 31.

NW student Elizabeth Chi comes to school early and still has trouble finding adequate parking close to her classes.

“It has made myself and many other students late for their classes, especially on the first day of the closure,” Chi said. “Even though I am on campus before 8 a.m., the parking lot is still quite full in the early morning hours.”

She said the lot’s closing caused a traffic jam at the campus entrance off of Marine Creek Parkway, and it was quite hectic to get in for a few days. But, since the opening of the smaller parking area off to the side of the closed lot, the traffic has gone down significantly.

Chi said that though she understands the expansion and construction of the campus will lead to inconveniences, the closing of the lot was not handled properly from a student perspective.

“I would have appreciated more planning involved in the closing of a parking lot that size,” Chi said. “It is one of the biggest, if not the biggest lot on the NW Campus. As we’ve recently found out, the capacity of the remaining open lots do not add up to the loss of our southern lot.”

She now has to walk through two buildings before she reaches one that has her classes. Around mid-morning, the available parking lots look like a sea of cars, some of them circling around trying to find a half-decent spot.

“It was quite the sight to see so many warning parking tickets on the cars as well,” Chi said. “In desperation, many chose to park on the grass or the sides of the overflow lot, and they received warning tickets for this.”

NW Student Government Association president Samuel Jepsen said both the SGA and campus administration are aware of the difficulties caused by the closing of the lot and have been working to resolve them as best as possible.

“We’ve been in close contact with the campus administration on all campus concerns and parking lot matters,” Jepsen said.

He said since the closing of the south lot there have been numerous reports of students being late and getting stuck in traffic due to the packing of the overflow and north parking lots.

“The campus administration is aware of these issues and have put many measures in place so that students who are late do not receive any sort of penalty,” he said. “I recommend to students that they should leave the house earlier and to not rush to school. Safety is our number one concern at TCC Northwest.”

Jepsen’s experience with the construction at NW Campus has at most been an inconvenience, but he has had issues with loud machinery during his lectures and sometimes exams.

“This must happen to continue with construction but I’d appreciate if the professors were made aware of the use of loud machinery before the class period started so an alternative classroom could be booked for use,” he said.

Jepsen also said that while it is unfortunate that the duration of the construction is so long, it is still needed for the construction to proceed at NW Campus.

“This may seem long but our campus administration and Student Government are doing everything in our power to resolve any issues that are students should have so that student can continue to have a great campus experience,” he said.