University of Idaho’s Parking and Transportation Center has released a few important updates for those staying on campus over Winter Break.
Several parking lots will be available for overnight parking and vehicle storage over the break in Purple Lot 2, Silver Lot 25 and Economy Lot 57E. Permits in those lots have not been enforced since Nov. 21, since students were encouraged to stay home between Fall Break and Winter Break. Permits will be enforced again starting Jan. 13, 2021.
Overnight parking regulations are still enforced in the other blue, red, orange, purple, silver and economy lots, but a permit is not required to park during the day. Vehicles which park on campus streets overnight during break may be towed or cited.
Gold lots, green lots and pay-to-park areas are enforced year-round.
Asher Johnson, a sophomore at UI and a member of the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity, is leaving his car on campus over Winter Break in one of the designated lots. He is carpooling with a fraternity brother on a five-hour-long drive instead. He said he wouldn’t want to drive in the possible winter weather and his mom wasn’t as comfortable with him making the long drive himself.
“(Leaving my car on campus) is way nicer, because at my sister’s school — she goes to school in western Washington — she has to pay for a parking spot, and if it’s over break, she has to pay for the car over there,” Johnson said. “So, it’s a lot nicer to get it for free.”
Rebecca Couch, UI’s Parking and Transportation Services director, encourages anyone with questions related to parking to contact her department at [email protected]. Vehicles parked improperly can get in the way of snowplows, which is part of why it’s so important people pay attention to the rules, Couch said.
“It slows down the plow operator,” Couch said. “So, you can just imagine, you’ve got a parking lot that’s totally empty, and the plow can just come in and they can work quickly, do their rows, clear all the snow. But if there’s one car or two cars, or more of course, that puts an obstacle in their route.”
A $30 parking violation will be issued to any cars parked over break in areas not designated as appropriate parking by the university. Vehicles parked outside of the designated overnight snow parking spaces in commuter lots will receive an Obstructing Traffic citation.
UI recently partnered with the AMP parking app, which allows people to park in any of the five designated parking lots for up to 15 minutes with the promo code 2020dropin, from now until Jan. 8, 2021.
“Say (a student or staff member) are in town and they need to come in and use the lab or something,” Couch said. “We’re just giving that free 15 minutes to allow them to park a little bit closer to drop in to campus, do something and get out.”
Students staying in Moscow over break can still reach out to Parking and Transportation Services for assistance with car trouble. The university will assist anyone who is having vehicle issues for free if they are on campus property.
PTS offers assistance with jump starts, provides gas cans for those who run out of gas, digs people’s cars out of snow by providing shovels and sand and retrieves keys locked inside cars. PTS’s operating hours are 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The department can be reached at 208-885-6424.
PTS posts updates on its Instagram, @uidahoparking, and on Facebook.
Keely Burnes can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @keelyburnes.