Creighton has expanded their partnership with PMC, the parking management company the university began working with in November. This expansion raises the number of stalls that Creighton students are allowed to use on 20th Street and Cass Street to 70, according to Creighton’s parking specialist Jessica Weaver.
“We are continuing to see what becomes available, see if there’s more spaces around the surrounding campus, but that was one way that we could at least gain stalls instead of losing stalls. And so that began officially last semester, partway through, but we gained more stalls as of January,” Weaver said.
In addition to this expansion, there is also discounted garage parking in a spot that’s a little farther away from campus. Creighton has leased out the lower level of parking at the location on 30th Street and Burt Street, from Nustyle, the property management company that owns the Atlas.
The back 265 spots on the lower level are being leased to Creighton, Weaver said. For students looking for definite, discounted access to parking, it is a good, if not convenient, option.
“It is better than driving around for 30, 45 minutes,” Weaver remarked.
Part of the problem with the parking issue at Creighton, according to Weaver, is the lack of education for students about what parking is available.
“There are those that are gonna continue to drive around the same two lots because that’s where they know. Some of it’s just finding that education piece of, ‘Hey, there’s actually a lot over here.’ It’s a little further, but if you show up a little extra time, you’re gonna have less stress.”
Creighton is always looking to obtain new stalls, Weaver said, even if right now there aren’t any definitive new plans for more parking expansions. Weaver recommended students who are looking for new spots to plan ahead, even if it’s difficult.
In addition to the new and discounted spots, Weaver talked about some parking that goes almost completely unused by students. It’s also on 30th Street and Burt Street, and according to Weaver, it’s marked on the Creighton website’s student parking map.
“It’s called W6. It is on the west side of campus, but we do have a shuttle that runs from that side over to main campus,” Weaver clarified. “It’s about a nine-minute walk, I think, from that lot, if you were to walk, but you do have to cross 30th Street.”
The name of the game for Creighton students who want to park is “plan ahead,” it seems. But some students, like Taiga Conwell, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences living in Opus Hall, think that there should be other options for Creighton students.
“I definitely don’t feel like they’re doing enough,” Conwell said, when asked what he thought of Creighton’s efforts to expand parking. “With how many new students Creighton is letting in each year, which is growing quite a bit compared to previous years, [they’re] going to need to have parking spaces.”
Conwell frequents about five different lots during his weeks on campus. This is a new struggle for him, as it’s the first semester that he’s had a vehicle on campus, but he’s still managed to find some parking every day, for better or worse.
“I do discover new parking spots. I don’t use them personally, but I do find new spaces a lot that can be accessed for small fees, but I think – well, this is how I feel but I also think other students might feel this way – that it’s really inconvenient to have to pay a small fee every time when we’re already paying so much in tuition,” Conwell said.