By Reid Hollingsworth – Student Contributor and Devon Martinez – Student Editor
Over the years, the number of the students and faculty at Pikes Peak Community College has grown, but it is specifically noticeable at the Rampart Range campus this fall semester. Students’ perceptions on the parking situation might be different than the college’s point of view.
For students who drive to campus every day, they have noticed, depending on the time of day an increase in traffic. This includes trouble in finding places to park.
For example, Mallory Brownfield said she attends evening classes when the campus is not as busy.
However, if you arrive to campus during the day, you might have noticed how finding a parking spot in a timely manner is quite the ordeal, especially during the beginning weeks of each semester.
“In just a few short years, you can definitely tell how many more people go here just by looking at the parking lot and the amount of cars in it,” said Alex Goudy, a Rampart Range student who has attended classes for several years.
The Director of Facilities and Capital Projects at PPCC, Clint Garcia said there hasn’t been a noteworthy traffic increase at the Rampart Range campus, which counters student perception on parking.
“At this point we have not made any definitive plans on how we restructure or how we manage parking,” said Garcia, “there are no issues that are requiring PPCC to change our current parking situation.”
Students who arrive when the parking lot is full can park in the dirt overflow lot southeast of the main entrance building. Although it eliminates the need to spend time prowling in search for a spot, it also has a difficult entrance to navigate because of the traffic through the campus and a sharp turn that may cause drivers to be unable to see pedestrians.
“It’s positive because it’s always open; it’s not hard to find a space. It’s negative because it’s hard to get in there,” said Sean West, a student who regularly parks in overflow.
Parking can be a nuisance, from wasting commute time looking for parking spaces to walking long distances from your vehicle.
Students are discussing in the atrium that a Rampart Range parking garage, although a large investment of financing and time, could potentially increase the amount of parking space on campus, condense square-footage of parking areas, while benefiting students and faculty by shortening commute time.
Other discussions center on safety and how to make crossing the lots a better option.
