Options for parking problems affecting the campus community

I was walking down the lower part of the service road the other day, and I noticed tickets on many of the cars which were parked along the side. For the most part, these cars had WPI parking stickers, meaning that if they had to park here, the lot they are supposed to be in must be full. The cars were parked on the right side of the road. The curb was not painted yellow, indicating no parking. The cars looked legitimately parked. On the parking tickets, the officer had checked off "Fire Lane" and "Warning" - which indicated that they were parked in a fire lane, but didn't have to pay a fine.

I looked around. There were no signs that said "No Parking." There was no indication in the road that there was a fire lane. How can someone get a ticket for parking in a fire lane when there is no indication that where they parked is a fire lane? Or, when there is no indication of "no parking" altogether? It seemed to me that these cars were parked perfectly legally.

Cars wouldn't be parked there in the first place if there was not a shortage of parking on campus in the first place. Of course, WPI realizes this (which is probably why the police just marked "warning" on the ticket) and is, I'm sure, thinking about some course of action to take to alleviate parking problems on campus. I am reminded of the time some years ago when there were plans to turn Higgins Lawn into a parking lot. That mistake was quickly pointed out by the WPI community.

There are two problems with constructing a new parking lot: it is ugly, and it has to take the place of something we are used to. I also think we should try to preserve as much nature on campus that we can - we already have enough brick, concrete, and asphalt. We need grass, trees, and flowers. Not only do they beautify the campus, but they are excellent for stressed students who need places to relax. A concrete campus becomes cold, uninviting, and unfriendly. So as much as possible, we should preserve our land.

This leaves two options. If we happen to acquire any blighted buildings in the neighborhood (of which there actually aren't too many), we can convert those to a parking lot. The problem with this is that the neighborhood would really hate us if we did that. But, it is still an option.

The second option, which is probably more costly, but definitely more techy, is a parking garage. Parking garages also have a high potential for being very ugly, but if done correctly, a parking garage could look quite handsome and architecturally impressive. A parking garage would probably go best where there is already a parking lot, which would mean that there would be an even greater parking problem during its construction (and as we know from experience, "summer projects" are seldom completed before the summer ends). By if it were done correctly, it would greatly enhance the amount of parking space available on campus.

I'm sure there must be a committee whose purpose is to find alternatives to the parking problem at WPI. Whereas I am just listing possibilities, this committee must have done some in-depth research to come up with viable solutions. So what I am proposing here will probably not be strongly considered by the committee - they have probably thought about these same ideas already. If there is a committee, I would invite them to share some of their thoughts on the matter. If there is not a committee, here are some initial ideas for them to ponder when they get started!

In the meantime, if you have a car and if you have to be on campus, then you have to park somewhere, so just park in the most reasonable space you can find. Keep in mind that there is parking on most of the side streets (beware of Schussler Street, on which parking is available to residents only). And watch out for those invisible fire lanes.