Lot 9 Parking - Casey Prather/ The Towerlight

The difficulty of parking at Towson is a campus-wide issue that thousands of people deal with every day. The current and upcoming construction has some wondering if the situation will ever improve.

An estimated 850 spots have been lost during the past year due to construction-related reasons.

Lot 9, located between the University Union and Burdick Hall, is scheduled to be used for construction beginning in October.

It is currently unclear as to how many spots will be lost.

Despite this, the outlook is positive, associate vice president for auxiliary services Joe Oster said.

“Things are going smoother than anticipated,” Oster said. “There have been minimal complaints, other than people being upset with having to park further away.”

With so many restrictions and changes taking place, a lot of students are turning to alternative means of transportation to get to campus.

Pam Mooney, director of parking and transportation services, said that there has been a huge increase in the number of students using the shuttles.

“If we’re not getting a lot of complaints, that’s a good thing,” Mooney said.

In the few weeks that school has been in session, shuttle usage has already topped one of the busiest days from last year at about 1,900 students.

This year, the shuttle’s slower days transport about 2,200 students, while some of the busiest days have reached more than 2,500.

For those students who absolutely feel the need to drive to campus, the key to getting a good spot is to know exactly where to go and to get there as early as possible.

Junior accounting major Dana Galuska commutes to campus four days a week.

“The most problematic days [for me] are Tuesdays and Thursdays around 1 p.m,” she said.

Many commuters are choosing to come to campus earlier than necessary, just to make sure they get a decent spot.

Junior elementary education major Cortlyn Weinkam has no problem finding a spot before 8 a.m., but hasn’t had as much luck before her 12:30 p.m. class on Tuesdays.

“The strategy that I would stress would be to go early if you’re commuting,” she said. “If you get to school at eight and you don’t have class until 11 or 12, go to the library and study.”

Along with the stress of parking, traffic on campus is often slow-moving.

Crosswalks are located at what some students consider the busiest spots, and at certain times of the day, cars may be stopped for several minutes waiting for students to cross.

“Towson should hire a crossing guard for the crosswalks closest to Tower A on Cross Campus Drive,” junior exercise science major Brian Diller said.

The West Village garage is highly anticipated by many students.

It will be completed in 2011 and will have 1,500 spaces available, according to Oster.