Recent campus-wide utility renovations have put more pressure on the already limited on-campus parking situation, leading the College of William and Mary Parking Services to repurpose 26 former day student and resident spaces for faculty and staff.
Twelve spaces in the Bryan Complex parking lot and 14 parking meters in Dawson Circle have undergone the reassignment, a response to a loss of 88 faculty and staff spaces due to construction over the past two years.
The change was decided upon late last year and was supposed to occur over winter break, but was pushed back until this semester due to weather conditions, Parking Services Manager Bill Horacio said.
“We rarely ever change things once the semester is underway,” he said.
The delayed transfer has bothered some students, many of whom said finding parking spaces is already difficult.
“I have had to look longer this year but I can’t tell if that’s just with the recent weather — less people are biking to class,” day student Will Hanes ’13 said. “I feel like there weren’t enough day student spots to begin with, so taking away from those is kind of ridiculous, but I guess there is a need for faculty parking as well.”
Parking Services has no current plans to revert the spaces to student parking, and the changes will likely remain in place at least until campus renovations are completed in 2013.
Campus police are giving students a 30-day grace period for parking in the new faculty spots, only issuing warnings until residents can become accustomed to the new regulations.
