Written by | DAKOTA KESSLER |
Students make their own parking spaces since parking lines have faded entirely.
Parking spaces are scarce on the Washington Street Campus, but what happens when a parking lot is in so desperate need of restriping that it makes it difficult to park correctly and obtain one parking spot?
That situation is occurring in Lot 6 across the street from the Amarillo Museum of Art and next to the Amarillo Opera House. Of the 10 parking lots on the Washington Street Campus, No. 6 is said to be in the poorest shape.
Lot 6 is merged with Lot 7, and as cars move farther away from the Amarillo Opera House and toward South Harrison Street and the Baptist Bible Chair, the lines become more faded or not even present. Students say it has become more difficult to park between the lines or in one parking space because of cars parking awkwardly.
“I’ve seen people take up two or three spots,” said Leoncio Gutierrez, a nursing major. “I think they need to repaint them just for safety reasons.” Because of lines being faded or completely gone, the AC Police Department has a hard time enforcing parking violations and handing out tickets in Lot 6.
“It is at an officer’s discretion,” Cpl. Scott Acker said.. “If the student can flat out see the lines or is parked over the hash marks, then the officer will issue a ticket, but now if they can’t see the lines, the officer will not hand out tickets. If they can’t see the lines themselves, then they will not write tickets.” If an accident occurs in Lot 6, Acker said, “Due to the parking lot being a private entity, even though the public has access to it, if an accident happens due to a student not seeing the lines, we don’t do accident reports on that and we let the insurance handle it, and that goes for any parking lot on campus.”
The AC physical plant is in charge of planning, construction, renovation, maintenance and repair of AC buildings and facilities. Bruce Cotgreave, director of the physical plant, said, “We are waiting until summertime to restripe Parking Lot 6. There are several lots that need to be done.”
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