Improve the Parking Lots

        I swear every year while I’ve attended lourdes, these parking lots have given me and my friends the worst experiences ever! I’m terrified that one of these days my wheels are going to give out if they have to deal with another pothole or curb thats in the way. The parking lots are in some serious need of improvements, and some of these upgrades are easier than you think.

        Let’s start with the obvious potholes, because I’ve counted at least four that have to keep being refilled. Two of them are at intersections of the dorms parking lot, and two are in the lanes that preside in the dorm lots as well. My first semester here I had to keep filling up my tires with air since they were deflating weekly. This became very annoying, since in the summer the tire tread was new and there wasn’t leaks before. 

        It turns out that my rim was starting to get dents and not holding the tread in its proper place. My driving was good, and I asked what could I have done to cause this. Turns out potholes can create this issue, and after buying a new rim for my car I have had to drive carefully to not damage my wheels again, which is hard when the potholes cover the intersections. Now I’m finishing up my second year here, and have had to replace three wheels! It’s absurd I have to spend hundreds of dollars when its the schools fault for not fixing their roads.

        Next I would like to discuss the lines in the parking lots by Emmanuel, Ambrose, Bonaventure, Felicia, and in Cabrini. Over half of the spaces by these building have faded away, and some are completely gone! This can be painfully frustrating, due to the students receiving tickets for improper parking. Personally I have had to dispute two tickets with public safety since when I park at night I can’t tell where the lines are. Usually I can guess when I’m in the clear, but if the people around me parked bad since the lines aren’t there, and in the morning my car is the last one left, I end up getting a tickets since it seems like I parked wrong in the first place. I just found an area where my car will fit and assumed its because of the lines, but I guess not! 

        Don’t get me started with how the students park in general. Every night there is at least one kid who parks in two spots at once, and its hard to argue since the lines have faded away and the kid could say that they didn’t mean to due to visibility. Another issue is how the RA students get their own spots, and there is about 30 parking spaces that are reserved for them. What’s funny is every night most of them are opened, and in the day only a handful uses their spots. These spots would be more beneficial if everyone could use them since spots are limited already.

        While the potholes and the parking spaces need some work, a big area that needs help is the curbs there are at every section. These curbs jet out in places and create a smaller area to pull out for cars. This has made drivers build up traffic since these lanes can only allow one car or truck through without bumping into each other. 

        These intersections are meant for one lane of traffic in each direction, but this is hard to do if the vehicles scrape each other or have their wheels pop up on the curb. If these protruding curbs can just be taken out there would be way more room to turn and drive through, students would actually want to drive around and explore the area without fear for their cars and repairs. These parking lots need to change for the present and future students, to enjoy their time here as well as keep their bank account from depleting due to repairs.

Author: Andrew Torres