News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Parking supply near the main quadclassrooms at Tennessee Tech University may be fueling some of the parking problems along Cookeville’s 8th Street.
Tech’s Chief Communications Officer Karen Lykins said the timing of a parking rate increase two years ago does not coincide with the increased parking complaints.
“The timing doesn’t work out with the price increase and the increased parking on city streets,” Lykins said. “So, we asked what was the trigger for that, and it seems to be more classes are in the historic buildings on the Quad now and in Foundation Hall. So, if you think about where the 8th Street parking is, they are convenient to someone who is in a hurry and has a class on the Quad.”
Lykins said the university routinely reminds students to respect city rules and private businesses while parking. She said the school has taken steps to make parking more accessible.
“We have streamlined our campus shuttle service to get students from the West Parking Lot, which is across Willow, to get them to campus faster, more efficiently, and more dependably,” Lykins said. “There’s a very large area across Willow that we check several times a day and has capacity for parking. So, our challenge is to make sure people can trust they can find a parking space, that they will get transportation to the center of campus, and that will come on a regular basis.”
The Cookeville Planning Commission delayed a vote on creating new residential parking districts Monday night as a way to give residents more control over parking. Residents of 8th Street between Washington and Jefferson Avenues say their street has become a extra parking lot for Tech students since parking rates were raised two years ago.
“8th Street is not the only place they’re parking,” Lykins said. “They had parked some there before, but now that all those buildings are open, we have a much larger crowd.”
Lykins said that Tech will cooperate with any decision Cookeville makes on Residential Parking Districts. She said any new rules or regulations would be passed on to the students.
“We will respect and support whatever the decisions of the Planning Commission and the city makes,” Lykins said. “We can communicate that decision to our students in a lot of different ways, so what we want to do is be a good neighbor and not do anything that doesn’t support the city. We want our students to respect the city. One of the big reasons our students love Tech is because is because of Cookeville, also.”
