Parking upgrade behind schedule

The proposed 750 additional parking spaces that were supposed to be ready for students this fall are running behind schedule, according to John Watson, North Lake College's director of facilities services.

Construction of the 400 spaces, an $800,000 improvement located at the southwest corner of the campus near the T building, has been delayed because of a water main leak. The shifting and contraction of the soil caused the water main leak. Watson said it would be November or December before the board will approve the project.

Construction of the other 350 new spaces, located on the North lot by the A and F buildings and estimated to cost $1.1 million, will begin after the work on the T building parking is complete, Watson added.

With no alternative parking to be found, some of North Lake's 8,785 students have been forced to illegally park on the grass and sidewalks.

No matter what university or college you go to, one rarely fi nds enough parking, said Watson. "The three things that people - students, faculty and staff - agree on: There is never enough parking, it's not close enough where I need it to be, but at least at North Lake it's free."

There are currently 2,062 spaces available to students. The North Lake College Police Department is aware of the parking shortage.

NLC Police Chief Danny Morris said officers were considerate of the students' inconvenience during the first weeks of the semester and overlooked many parking violations.

The week of Sept. 12, police officers distributed yellow warning notices for parking on the grass and sidewalks. From Sept. 19-25, $5 red-tag citations were given to the continual offenders. Those who continued to ignore the warnings were issued citations from the city of Irving. Those citations require the violator to appear in court or lose their parking privileges.

Morris said, “I encourage students who think they have been given citations unfairly to talk to the officer who wrote the ticket or come to the police office and fill out an appeals form.”

The pilot program created to accommodate senior citizens with easier access to the college facilities by providing them reserved parking near the entrance to the A, F and S buildings was reviewed by the President's Cabinet last December. Members unanimously decided to withdraw five parking spaces from the Senior Citizen's Parking Program located in Lot 17 near the entrance to A and F buildings because of high demand for parking by students and lack of use by the senior citizens.

The five parking spaces that were removed from Lot 17 were added to the parking near the pool located near the S building, where demand for parking is higher.

Morris said students could use the grass area beside the tennis courts as overflow parking without penalty.

Students can contact the North Lake police office for more information regarding parking citations and the campus parking regulations at 972-273-3300.