Let me provide an update on where we are today, a little more than two weeks before the start of the fall semester.

Remainder of the Summer

Through the remainder of the summer period, until the start of fall classes on Aug. 26, the parking program will remain quite unrestricted and open, and all faculty and staff can continue to use the Wood Street parking lot, Washington Street parking lot, Naylor Garage (beneath the Shea Street Building), Vine Street Student Garage and the Daly Street student parking lot. These parking locations are all labeled on the Fall 2013 Map, which can viewed on the UHD Parking Garage Construction web page (http://www.uhd.edu/construction/documents/fall2013parkingmap.pdf).

Observation: It seems like a number of staff/faculty are parking on the Naylor and Daly surface lots even though there is considerable capacity in the Vine Street Garage. Again, until Aug. 26 all staff/faculty prox cards (white plastic parking access card) are set up to access both the Naylor Garage and the Vine Street Garage. If using the Vine Street Garage, remember to pull up to the second card reader (there is a sign).

Fall Semester Parking Arrangements

By Aug. 26, the two temporary lots that will serve as replacement parking for the lost Faculty/Staff Garage spaces will be completed. These two lots will be referred to as 'Replacement Lot A' and 'Replacement Lot B', or Lot A and Lot B. Lot A is across Main St. from the Shea Building (west, toward the bayou) and Lot B is across Naylor St. from the Shea Building (north, toward the old rail yard). They can be seen on the map below. When complete, these lots will be fenced, well-lit, equipped with emergency call boxes and clearly marked as UHD Faculty/Staff lots.

Effective Aug. 26, the first class day of the Fall 2013 semester, Wood Street and the Naylor Garage will be faculty-only parking facilities. The exception is that staff members who work out of the Shea Street Building will still be able to access the Naylor Garage. Further, the Washington Street lot will be accessible only to faculty and staff who work out of the Commerce Street Building. Staff, as well as faculty, unable to find parking in one of the faculty-only locations, will be expected to park in either Lot A or Lot B.

Also effective Aug. 26, the Vine Street Garage will revert to being student-only.

If the replacement lots are full it is always acceptable for faculty and staff to overflow into the student surface lots, most specifically the Daly lot and the spaces we lease off San Jacinto St. (again, see Fall 2013 Map on the web page). We do ask that faculty and staff NOT park in the student side of the Washington St. lot. This is one of the few in-close lots available to students and there has already been grumbling from students about being crowded out of that lot by staff/faculty.

Other Issues

Numerous questions have come in from staff and faculty asking more specifically how parking-related services/operations will be impacted during the construction period. Included have been questions about motorcycle parking, disabled parking, visitor parking and shuttle bus service. Answers to these questions are now provided through a Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) section on the UHD Parking Garage Construction link (http://www.uhd.edu/construction/faq.html), which can be accessed directly or by clicking on the 'Faculty Staff Garage Closed' icon located in the upper-left corner of the UHD homepage.

Again, thank you for your patience and cooperation as we take on this important project.