Road jobs a hurdle as colleges begin

Call it a parking tale of two schools.

First, as classes begin this week and next at most Utah colleges and universities, road construction projects near some of the schools aren't quite finished.

Utah Department of Transportation spokesman Tom Hudachko said Tuesday the reconfiguration of the intersection at Foothill Drive and Sunnyside Avenue should be complete by next week.

The repaving of 1300 East is expected to be done by the end of this week.

Those projects, which impact students on their way to Westminster College and the University of Utah, were designed to be completed by the first day of class.

"Those schools are what put the majority of traffic on 1300 East and Foothill," Hudachko said.

The lingering issue will be parking at some schools, particularly at the U. and Westminster. Different approaches to student parking are being taken in each case.

The U. has three major construction projects on its campus, including the Marriott Library, a new chemistry building next door and the school's engineering building.

Michael Perez, U. associate vice president for facilities management, said construction fences are in place around the library as workers begin a seismic upgrade of the building and excavate for a new automatic book retrieval system.

One big result is the temporary loss of 240 parking spaces for faculty and staff and the permanent disappearance of 60 parking meters — all of the spaces are located in the highest-demand area in a central part of the campus.

The U. parking shuffle will mean some "U" permit spaces will be awarded to faculty and staff.

"That displaces some students," said Norm Chambers, U. assistant vice president of auxiliary services.

The U. will lease two-thirds of the parking structure that serves the new LDS Institute, and students who lost their U permit space will be able to park there.

The arrangement may be perceived as being inconvenient, Chambers said, but that may be the end of it.

"We do believe there are going to be enough (parking) spaces," he said.

U. officials are sending e-mails this week to students, who are also being told to check the school's Web site for more parking information. Signs around campus and advertisements in newspapers are designed to "get the word out," Chambers added.