Committee hears parking
concerns
By Keenan Singleton
Daily Cougar Staff
To be or not to be — that was the question
posed by Shakespeare's tragic hero Hamlet. To have trees or not to have
trees, and
where to put them, was the query the Transportation
and Parking Advisory Committee had to answer during a Wednesday meeting
at McElhinney Hall.
The committee heard plans from Caren Burns,
director of campus planning and real estate, about extending the size of
the
recreation fields after the expected demolition
of the Wendy's restaurant on Cullen Boulevard in Fall 2002.
A new Wendy's would be built next to the
Burger King restaurant on Scott Street. The relocation would come less
than a year after the
establishment was closed for remodeling
during the winter break.
"We want to be able to plant two rows of
trees starting from (Interstate) 45 South and Cullen by Sept. 7 (the date
of the annual Bayou
Bucket football game between UH and Rice
University)," Burns said.
Burns stressed that despite the continual
need for additional parking on campus, the space used for the row of trees
wouldn't steal
many eligible future spaces.
"There will be no significant loss of parking
spaces with the Cullen trees," Burns said. He added that the long-term
needs of the
University were still being addressed.
"Parking isn't a new issue; it's been a
problem here for the past 20 years," Burns said. "We are getting new spaces
faster than we
were even just two years ago. The count
of new spaces has been affected proactively."
Other beautification projects include creating
neighborhood portals — entryways to UH — on the cusp of the campus grounds
and
devising a plan to place a well-defined
perimeter around the periphery of the University.
Other items on the agenda were proposed
parking for the planned Greek Village and the Recreation Center on Calhoun
Street and
public transportation.
Ira Shepard, a professor at the UH Law
Center and a member of the committee, questioned the absence of available
parking for
some of the new and recent buildings on
campus, like the recreation center and the Athletic/Alumni Center.
"I'm not happy," Shepard said. "All these
buildings should be built with parking in mind. The rec center should carry
its own parking
and it doesn't.
"When you put a facility there, it will
crowd out regular parkers. We're asking for problems if we continue to
allow (a) new building to
be placed on campus without parking to
accompany it."
The committee will next meet at 1 p.m.
April 24 in the Human Resources Conference Room on the third floor of McElhinney
Hall.
