New building in Lot B-2 sparks parking concern

A student based on the Brownsville campus expressed concerns with Zone 2 parking after the construction of the Interdisciplinary Academic Building in Lot B-1 and now the construction of a Center for Human Genetics Building in Lot B-2.

The student sent an email to UTRGV Parking and Transportation Services, the Office of the Provost, UTRGV President Guy Bailey and The Rider.

The Rider contacted the student for further comment, but as of press time, she had not replied to the email. 

The student states that the construction of the Interdisciplinary Academic Building, which was constructed in March 2020 in the middle of the B-1 parking lot, took away parking spots from students, faculty and staff without any gain of parking. 

With the construction of the new building, which began Oct. 6 and is set to end in December, she said it is also limiting Zone 2 parking in Lot B-2. 

“I bought Zone 2 parking specifically so I can park close to the Life & Health Science building for my evening classes and because of the construction of the new building, there is limited Zone 2 parking,” the student wrote in the email.

Letty Benavidez, associate vice president for Campus Auxiliary Services, replied to the student’s email stating that the university is looking to do a complete review of the lot and space distribution through a parking study that will kick off soon. 

“The study will give us a better idea about how to distribute our resources to improve accessibility,” Benavidez responded via email to the student, UTRGV Parking and Transportation Services, the Office of the Provost, UTRGV President Guy Bailey and The Rider. “We are currently in the process of identifying a firm to carry out the project.”

She said the university assesses the number of permits sold per campus in relation to the number of parking spaces available for that respective permit. 

Benavidez said the department compared the parking ratio to the last “normal year.” In 2019, she said the parking ratio of spaces to Zone 2 permits was 1-to-2. Now, with hybrid classes due to the pandemic, she said the ratio is 1-to-1.5. She said the industry average is four permits sold per space. 

“So, it didn’t justify the need [for more parking],” Benavidez said about adding new parking on campus. “If we had seen that number go up, then, obviously, yes, we would have, you know, look to do an expansion.”

Rodney Gomez, executive director for Parking and Transportation, said that Parking Services is in the process of identifying a firm to carry out a parking study.

Asked what the university plans to achieve with this study, Gomez replied, “The overall goal is to make parking more convenient, more accessible and more customer friendly.”

He said the parking study will reevaluate UTRGV’s entire parking process by looking at the supply and demand of the parking spaces and the permits sold, looking at the university’s parking policies, the different kinds of permits sold and zoning.

“[The consultants we are looking to bring on board will] decide whether to recommend the different system or whether the zoning system that we have in place could be improved,” Gomez said. “So, they’re looking at all of those elements, really, from a supply and demand, and also an operations viewpoint.”

Parking Services would like to remind students that all permitted vehicles are able to park in any Zone 3 or Zone 2 parking space after 4:30 p.m. 

For day-time parking, effective March 8, UTRGV added a call stop next to Lot B-2. This will allow VOLT carts to pick up and drop off patrons who park in other parts of campus between 7:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.