On Monday, September 8 a torrential downpour hit St. Xavier and caused flooding to some of the parking lots on campus, specifically the Pulaski Center parking lot.
Rainfall from the storm totaled over an inch and cause the lot to severely flood.
This flood in turn caused parking to be limited in the area for commuter students looking to park in the Pulaski Center lot, who needed to attend classes on campus during that Monday.
The flooding in the Pulaski parking lot encompassed close to the majority of the lot. Water was deep enough to also deter commuters from attempting to pass through it.
The deep water also caused many of the lots parking spaces to become unusable for the duration of the flooding.
This caused an issue for the many students who utilized the lot for classes at the Pulaski Center.
The lot is also used by commuter students who utilize the space when there is no available parking in any of the Warde parking lots.
The severe degree of flooding in the Pulaski Center parking lot is not a new occurrence on campus, and it has caught the eye of Police Chief and Director of Public Safety Jack Touhy.
Touhy stated that the Facilities Department is aware of the flooding issue in Lot 14 and suggests students who are having trouble finding parking during flooding situations can find ample parking in lots 7 and 1.
Touhy also recommends that students attempt to reach campus before peak times on Mondays and Wednesdays, when the majority of commuter students arrive on campus at the near 9 AM and before 2 PM.
The issue with the flooding lot also is evaluated and addressed by the Facilities Department on campus, whose job is to evaluate lots on campus on a daily basis, according to Touhy.
Decisions to renovate lots are based on the condition of the lots and budget available for a renovation to take place.
The parking permits sold on campus for the rates of $150 dollars an academic year are actually distributed to the overall university budget, and not into any fund available for parking lot maintenance.
This does not mean that the university ignores putting money back into the lots on campus, Touhy points out that, “the University sets line items for continued operations of the university such as parking lot upkeep, snow plowing, salting, lighting, emergency telephones, just to name a few.â€
Also in terms of the number of commuter students for this current academic year, Touhy points out that there has been a slight increase in commuter students.
This slight increase of commuter students however is not what is leading to more congested lots on campus in the eyes of Touhy.
The parking lot congestion is most likely, in Touhy’s viewpoint, brought on by increased demand for Monday and Wednesday classes before 2 PM.
There may be hours where the lots are nearly all full, but Touhy also notes that there are also periods where you have free range to park almost anywhere on campus.
Students on campus have voiced their concerns over the parking situation at St. Xavier, Senior and Education Major Marissa Melvan stated, “Why does the university forget about us commuters, we need to be able to have ample parking in order to get to class on time.
I can’t be late because I couldn’t find a spot.â€
This displeasure was prevalent in Melvan.
Melvan expressed a desire that the university put more effot into renovating or adding parking lots on campus.
At the time of this story there are no plans currently for any additional renovations to any of St. Xavier’s parking lots.
Though that option can be on the table if deemed necessay by the Facilities Department on campus.
The flooding situation at the Pulaski lot has since been resolved as water levels have decreased greatly.
However until mor work is made on the lot it appears torrential rain will continue to flood the lot to a large degree.
“I dread the rain because it does limit where I park, but at least I can plan ahead. Maybe one day I can find a spot anywhere on campus at anytime,†remarked Melvan as she gave some concluding remarks on the St. Xavier University parking situation.
A common question that is asked is whether the number of spots have increased or decreased between the Summer break at St. Xavier.
It was pointed out by Touhy that indeed the university has not increased or decreased the total number of parking spots on campus.
The main theme of Touhy’s advice to students for parking on campus is to continue to arrive before class starts as early as possible.
This ample time time will allow for students to find the appropiate spot to park no matter the weather condition.
For more information on St. Xavier and its parking situation stay tuned to The Xavierite.
Jake Alleruzzo
Senior News Editor