Where will all the cars go? New spots not the only changes planned

Recently, Eastern has made plans concerning the parking situation on campus.

Among those plans has been the decision to move their maroon Eastern vans over to Valley Forge Military Academy and College’s parking lot in order to open up more spaces for visitor and commuter parking.

This change was made in order to start accommodating the major changes happening on Eastern’s campus such as the addition of the new buildings.

This semester there are 930 parking spaces available on campus, with 500 of those restricted to Eastern residents only, according to Director of Security Jack Sheehan.

Once construction is completed, the installation of 134 additional parking spaces is required by Radnor Township, according to Radnor code official William Miller. Six of these need to be handicap spaces.

Miller said that there must be one space for every three residents in the new building. There are to be 162 beds in the new residence hall, meaning a requirement of 54 parking spaces added for residents.

Regarding the office and classroom building, there is required by code to be one space per 200 square feet. The building will have 1,600 square feet in office and classroom space, so there must be a minimum of another 80 additional spaces.

Eastern has proposed to Radnor Township a total of 131 faculty, staff, student and visitor parking spaces and six additional handicap spaces.

“I hope the calculations all work out by the time school starts again in the fall semester,” Carl Altomare, executive director of campus services, said.

The new parking spaces are shown on the print layout at Radnor Township to be located in four primary areas. Miller described 35 spaces to be located behind the residence hall, with additional parking on both the left and right side of Eastern’s main entrance, and an extension of the parking lot between Heritage House and North Campus Hall.

Bettie-Ann Brigham, Vice President of Student Development, offered information discussed at a recent meeting held at President Black’s home.

Brigham shared a proposal that has been drawn up to go in effect this upcoming summer if accepted. The plans illustrate two major ideas that Eastern is anticipating.

The first involves campus roadways. The plans show twelve parking spaces to be placed next to the Gate House for athletic coach buses, while the Fairview Drive entrance to campus will be shut. The lot will be connected to Thomas Drive by a loop, and Thomas Drive will be turned back into a two-way street.

“The entrance to the gym parking lot will still be available. We are just trying to be more sensitive to the neighbors,” Brigham said.

The second part of the proposal, according to Brigham, is a request for a budget in order to own bus shuttles and hire drivers to pick up students from the Radnor 5 and Radnor 100 train stations at times that run according to Eastern’s class schedules.

They would return students to the stations upon request or possibly on an hourly departure schedule; this has yet to be determined.

The multiple people contributing to the plans and construction of this major set of alterations on Eastern University’s campus seemed enthusiastic and dedicated.

“It’s a challenging, moving target that is constantly changing,” Sheehan said.

Suggested Changes

131 regular spaces

6 handicapped spaces

Two-way traffic on Thomas Drive

12 spots for athletic buses

A loop to connect gym lot to Thomas Drive

Bus shuttles to and from train stations

Construction Update

As of Feb. 16, the construction of Eagle Hall and the surrounding parking areas remains on schedule to be completed for fall semester 2007.

Source: Carl Altomare, executive director of campus services