Closed Loyalist P10 parking lot still problematic

An empty snow-covered P10 parking lot at Loyalist College. Photo by John R. Moodie

By John R. Moodie

BELLEVILLE – Winter has arrived at Loyalist College and parking lot P10 continues to be a hot topic on campus.

Students arrived on campus for the fall semester to find parking in P10 had been closed indefinitely.

“It has affected students widely because we are now parking much farther away,” said student president Chantel Johnston.

Mark Kirkpatrick, director of facilities and information technology services, said parking lot P10 was never meant to be permanent. It was built to replace spots lost due to major construction projects that were done at Loyalist in 2010.

There was never any intention to maintain P10 in the long term,” Kirkpatrick said.

There are challenges with maintaining temporary spots, he said.

“It is not lit properly at night. From a security perspective, I don’t like students going to spots that aren’t properly lit.”

Parking needs to be properly done, Kirkpatrick said.

“We want paving. We want lane markers. We want proper lighting. None of those exist in p10.”

Though the closing of P10 means less overall parking, Kirkpatrick said there is enough parking for all students.

Loyalist is watching the situation closely, he said.

“We always monitored the amount of spots to make sure that there is the capacity for when people are here.”

Johnston said that as student body president, she listens to the concerns of many students. They say finding a parking spot can be difficult, depending on what time they come to school, she said.

“If you come at 8 a.m. you can find a parking spot no problem. If you’re here between 10 and 12 it gets really hard to find a parking spot. The rest of the parking spots have been very full.”

The parking issue comes up at every student government meeting, Johnston said.

The closing of P10 has affected students in the college’s media programs directly, she said, because the programs are concentrated in the wing of the school closest to that lot. With the closing of P10, the closest parking lot is now a seven- to 10-minute walk for media students.

Map of Loyalist College shows the closed P10 parking lot at top right. It is one of the lots closest to the wing where media programs are located.

Media students are also concerned with the safety of their equipment, she said.

“The closing of the P10 parking lot has them carrying a lot of expensive, heavy, awkward equipment.”

With the arrival of winter, media students face a slippery and slushy walk to get to and from the media wing. There are no sidewalks, so the students are forced to share the road with vehicles.

Kirkpatrick said: “I hear the frustrations. I really do hear the frustration. We don’t take things offline to impact students. We’re here to support students.”

If there is something the school can do to help the situation it will explore it, he said.

“We will see if there is something that we can do for the betterment of our students.”