It’s a scenario many commuters know all too well: cars driving slowly through the Bedford Street parking lot, displaying behavior befitting a stalker as they lurk behind walking students, praying for a spot to park. What they don’t realize is the time spent driving slowly around in circles, only to wind up in a metered spot, could have been avoided by parking a few thousand yards away in the Marginal Way parking lot. There they can step about 20 feet from their cars to board a comfortable little red V.I.P charter bus to the Portland campus.
The reality is in January students who usually park on campus will have no choice but to seek alternatives due to the temporary shortage of spaces. The construction of the parking garage will take away 400 of the existing 584 spaces on the Bedford Street lot and the Marginal Way lot can hold up to 300 cars. Currently, it is estimated no more than 75 cars park at Marginal Way.
With students coming from both Gorham and Portland residence halls, as well as surrounding communities, there are enough parking and shuttle alternatives to fill the needs of all students, if people are willing to use the alternatives provided, said Dewey Ferguson, parking and transportation manager.
In January, when the Bedford Street lot will only have about 175 spaces, approximately 409 cars will need redirecting at times of high traffic. Professional engineering studies have found these blocks of time to be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Monday through Thursday, Ferguson said.
USM has worked in conjunction with Sam’s Club of Scarborough on the corner of Payne Road and Route 114 to provide an undisclosed number of spaces. Similarly to the Marginal Way setup, a shuttle will run every 15 minutes, from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Weekend hours for the shuttle will vary, Ferguson said. Additional information on specific hours of operation for the shuttle service can be found at XXXX USM Police or online at: www.usm.maine.edu/police/parking.htm
Ferguson said he has produced a “tip sheet” this year, which is essentially a condensed version of the parking rules booklet.
“I try to do it because I know nobody wants to sit down and read a whole book of rules.”
Ferguson hopes the tip sheet will make it a little easier for students to understand the parking rules. He considers it important for students to have this information, especially with the upcoming construction of the parking garage.
The parking situation is one that’s been in arrears at USM for a long time. Despite the complaints however, it didn’t take much digging to find out that the USM parking committees and parking and transportation authorities are doing all they can to remedy the situation, and a project is underway. With a little patience and some effort to try alternative means of getting to campus, the new garage will be here in no time.
For further commuting alternatives, students can go to “GoMaine,” the State of
Maine’s Department of Transportation’s car-pooling program, at 1(800) 280-RIDE, or
www.gomaine.org. Students can also contact Sarah Walpow at [email protected] as she is organizing a similar carpool program specifically for the USM community.