Contractors face parking restrictions

Author: Theo May

Tensions between the College and the town of Middlebury have risen in recent weeks as the administration set about reserving parking spaces for faculty and staff.

At issue are parking spots on Route 125 (College Street) and Route 30 (South Main Street) that have College signs instructing who may and may not park there.

Parking issues sparked irritation when construction workers at the new Donald E. Axinn Center at Starr Library were informed that they needed to park in the spacious lot behind the Center for the Arts (CFA) instead of on the road in front of it.

"What ended up happening," explained Director of Public Safety Lisa Boudah, "was some of the construction folks [arrived] first, and the discussion came up of should they be parking on a town road."

Because of the parking spaces lost for faculty due to the construction of the biomass plant, the College decided to enforce a prior agreement with the contractors and restrict the workers to the CFA lot to open up spots for faculty.

Until the College and the town establish a more formal arrangement on roadside parking, a lack of clarity and communication may continue to weigh on town-College relations.

The very existence of the parking spots along town roads dates back roughly 10 years ago - though the spots in front of the CFA are much newer, stemming from a recent repaving paid for by the state. The origin of these "curb cuts," explained Boudah, harkens back to an effort by the College and town to promote a more pedestrian-friendly college.

By putting parking spaces in between the sidewalk and the road, students who turn to cross the street have an extra meter of space to look for traffic. Conversely, the "bump outs," as Boudah calls them, give drivers greater opportunity to anticipate pedestrians.

"They bumped the sidewalk out to the edge of the road," said Boudah," so that students can see if it's safe to cross."

The other purpose for the parking spots is what Boudah called "traffic calming."

"You're in an area with a lot of cars parked - there are people, pedestrians," said Boudah, who argued that lines of parked cars encourage drivers who are racing in from the country side to slow down.

As for the issue of jurisdiction over the parking spots, Boudah reassures residents, claiming a continuous dialogue with the town police over what signs the College can and cannot post.

However, the problem may be one of communication rather than jurisdiction. The faculty/staff parking signs on town roads were intended to protect citizens of the town rather than inconvenience them.

The Department of Public Safety has made a concerted effort to restrict where students can park in an effort to keep convenient spots open for faculty, staff, visitors and townspeople. Boudah argued that no signs preventing students from parking on College Street and South Main could result in an increasing number of students opting for town parking.

Although meant to restrict students, the confusion has drawn the ire of some in town.

The main point of confusion, though, is that Public Safety does not practice enforcement on townspeople who use faculty/staff parking spots on town roads.

"We're not going to do any enforcement with townspeople parking for church," said Boudah.