XII. Pedestrian Campus Proposal
BACKGROUND
In the fall of 1994, the Environmental Council distributed a memo to the College community about parking and driving on campus. The Council was concerned about excessive and unsafe traffic on campus and offered preliminary recommendations to address the problem. A member from the Council then met with the Faculty Council, Staff Council, Community Council, and Student Government to hear feedback on the initial recommendations. This final report reflects much of the constructive input from these meetings.
The Council's recommendations are driven by three primary concerns with car traffic on campus:
1) vehicular safety and emergency access
2) quality of life on campus
3) environmental impact and energy waste
Overall, there is support for making Middlebury's campus a more pedestrian campus. While many people support a pedestrian campus in principle, there is also an understandable reluctance among students, faculty, and staff to give up parking and driving privileges. At Middlebury, these privileges are abundant and unrestricted: the college provides free parking for all students, lots are conveniently located on campus, and there are numerous roads bisecting the campus. Other competitive colleges like Williams, Amherst, Princeton, and Dartmouth have much more restrictive policies to promote a pedestrian campus. Princeton, for example, is a completely pedestrian campus where no cars are allowed on the main campus and parking is only provided in satellite parking lots.
This year there are 1,300 registered student cars and 760 faculty/staff cars. Traffic has increased through campus as the college expands and more students bring cars to Middlebury. Some of the traffic through campus is caused by students and faculty who drive short distances to class, lunch, the fitness center, and other areas of campus.
A large motivation for this proposal is the safety concerns with traffic through campus. In recent years there have been tragic accidents involving students and vehicles at Middlebury. Matthew Slautterback was killed on his skateboard in 1991 after colliding with a car on Hillcrest Road, and David Buse was maimed while biking in 1993 when he hit a College snowblower alongside Old Chapel Road. Poor visibility between parked cars along Old Chapel Road contributed to Buse's accident. The problem of poor visibility combined with the substantial car and pedestrian traffic along College Street, Old Chapel Road, and Hillcrest could lead to future tragic car related accidents.
In response to these concerns, the Council's recommendations are designed to promote a safe pedestrian campus where students, faculty, and staff walk, rather than drive, throughout the campus. These recommendations are aimed at travel within the campus, and they are not designed to restrict the ability of students, faculty, and staff to drive onto or off of campus.
RECOMMENDATIONS
I. Assign all student, faculty, and staff cars to specific parking lots.
Give faculty and staff first choice in parking lot assignments to ensure that they have access to a parking lot that is convenient to their work location. Students will choose from the remaining parking lots during spring room draw or in the fall with Security.
Issue car registration stickers that are color coded for specific parking lots. The stickers will also be marked to differentiate two types of drivers: 1) students living on campus who must always park in their assigned lots, and 2) faculty, staff, and students living off campus who are assigned to specific lots during the day and can park in any lot after 3 p.m. or on weekends. (Car registration stickers may be yearly removable stickers that go on an interior window. Removable stickers would make it easier for students to get different lot assignments each year without having multiple stickers on their windows.)
Create 15 minute parking stalls in all parking lots. These stalls will allow any driver to pick up deliveries, move equipment, or make necessary errands on campus. The 15 minute limit will be strictly enforced.
Enforce student parking lot assignments at all College events, including athletic events and social house parties.
Allow College service vehicles and third-party delivery trucks to park in any lot at any time.
- Allow College event organizers (parties, dances, special dinners, etc.) and elderly, handicapped, or injured people to get parking permits that would allow them to park when necessary at lots other than their assigned lot.
II. Block specific roads on campus to create cul-de-sacs and reduce traffic.
Block Old Chapel Road between McCullough and Starr Library to prevent through traffic. During the first year, parking in stalls on this road will be available for assigned cars. To improve visibility and safety, parking will not be allowed along the east curb.
Consider eliminating all parking on this road in two years. The road would be blocked at both ends, creating a limited-access road similar to the road past Mead Chapel.
Consider blocking Hillcrest Road between the tennis courts and the cemetery to reduce through traffic and improve pedestrian safety around Proctor, Chellis House, Farrell House, Geonomics Institute, and other campus facilities on the road.
- Consider a new technology for blocking campus roads. The existing chain and lock system is time consuming and inconvenient. Explore removable metal pilings or small, aesthetic gates that could be operated with a garage door opener or card key.
III. Work with the town to restrict parking and improve safety along College Street
Eliminate parking on the south side of College Street. Allow only 15 minute parking on the north side of College Street between Carr Hall and Adirondack View.
- Reduce the legal speed limit along College Street from 25 mph to 20 mph. Enforce the speed limit.
IV. Increase parking enforcement.
Charge students to register cars at the beginning of each year. This practice is standard at almost all colleges.
Create escalating ticket fees to discourage repeat offenders and higher fines for unregistered cars.
Improve the currently ineffective impound system for repeat parking offenders by creating a secured impound lot or using the Bootª to immobilize cars. (The Bootª attaches to a car's wheel and immobilizes the car until Security unlocks the device.)
Continue to allow visitors to register their cars with Security. Visitors should be assigned a parking lot for their stay at the College.
Ticket unregistered cars parked overnight in any lot. This would discourage students from not registering their cars.
- Continue to allow open parking and access to restricted roads by dorms at the beginning and end of the semester so students can move into and out of their dorms.
Pedestrian Campus Subcommittee
Christopher McGrory Klyza
Peter M. Polson, '95, Chair
Sarah S. Rebick, '97
Carly H. Vynne, '97
Jon C. Woodbury
Appendix
During the course of its research, the Pedestrian Campus Subcommittee discovered that many of the schools with whom Middlebury College compares itself have more stringent parking and driving policies than Middlebury. Here are some of the highlights of these policies.
PRINCETON - Princeton has a completely pedestrian campus. Students are assigned to one of two remote parking lots and pay $115 per year to park. Faculty and staff have their own lots and are assigned by building. They are assigned first come first served to lots that are within seven minutes walking distance from their office. When close lots fill, faculty and staff are assigned to a remote lot that has a shuttle bus. The student lots are near this remote lot so students may also use the shuttle. Visitors must check in with a booth officer upon entering the campus. They are then assigned specific parking near the building they are visiting. Tickets escalate in value, and repeat offenders are booted or towed.
ST. LAWRENCE - St. Lawrence has a pedestrian campus. No cars are allowed on the main campus. Students pay $25/year to register a car and park in lots on the periphery of campus. Faculty and staff have their own spots. Tickets for violations vary depending on the offense with escalating fines for repeat offenders. Cars without permits have higher fines.
DARTMOUTH - All cars must be registered. Faculty and staff parking is assigned based on seniority. There are only two student lots, so driving around campus is not a problem. Students pay $44/year, faculty $120, and staff $72. There is a free remote lot for faculty and staff with a shuttle that runs to buildings on campus. Faculty and staff can opt to park there rather than paying to park closer to their offices. Tickets vary from $25 for the first offense to $100 for a third offense.
WILLIAMS - Students are assigned to specific parking lots each year based on their housing. Lots are assigned at room draw and when the most desirable lots fill, the overflow is assigned to a remote lot. Students pay $60 to register a vehicle. In addition, students are not permitted to park on the inner campus during business hours to discourage driving from place to place on campus and to allow parking for faculty and staff.
Sarah S. Rebick, '97
