RGC garage opens for Fall Semester

The new Rio Grande Parking Garage is up and running for the fall semester. There is a total of 543 new parking spaces with 346 open for students, 195 reserved for faculty and staff and two additional spots for the retail space that is yet to open.

The garage was opened to students and faculty on Aug. 24, the first academic day of the fall semester of 2009. Pamela Collier, parking manager, is proud to announce the construction was under the $15 million budget

While the new parking garage is helping with the notorious parking problem at Rio Grande. It does get full. Its busiest hours are between 10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. The large amount of students trying to find a spot are currently slowing down the traffic on 12th St. and causing competition for the scarce street parking. The safety officer's have to check every one of the students' identifications and parking permits, which takes a lot of time and may be the cause of the unusually long car line on 12th St.

Safety Officer Gary Cronkhite, nevertheless, foresees the end of traffic complications. "Once the automatic gates are installed and people get used to the new garage, there won't be long lines on 12th St. anymore," said Cronkhite.

The automatic gates will be activated by swiping a valid ACC ID for those who paid the parking permit fee.

There have been some problems with students parking in faculty spots.

"Soon we will be giving them warnings, and taking more drastic measures, depending on how many times an episode is repeated," Cronkhite said.

Collier agrees that there is a problem.

"This current situation will be addressed soon in a meeting with campus management and administration members," Collier said. Nothing is confirmed, but the number of faculty and staff spaces may decrease in order to satisfy the demand for student parking spaces

The columns on the sides of the entrance, protecting walls and the safety offices have all been hit by cars. Cronkhite said that the columns are too close to each other, making it difficult for the cars to maneuver in the small space.

ACC is aware of the problem.

The parking garage was designed and built according to approved and tested standards. "Most of the students are not very experienced drivers. They should drive slower and more carefully to avoid scratching their painting jobs," Collier said.

Stephanie Sides, an ACC student, drives 45 minutes twice a week for an afternoon class and says it's a great relief to know there's no need to drive to class earlier, in order to struggle for an expensive parking space on the street. "I have to pay less for my ACC parking permit than I had to pay for a parking space in my high school," said Sides.

As the Rio Grande community adjusts to the new parking garage the kinks are being worked out.

"The parking garage was built to solve some of the parking problems," Collier said, "but we were aware before the construction that it could not solve it completely. Some students will still have to park on the streets, unfortunately."