AU gets new parking deck due to record number of students
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Record growth at Augusta University means a record number of students are searching for somewhere to park.
A new parking deck hopes to ease some of that congestion for more than 11,000 students.
Chances are it’s affected your chances of finding a parking space in parts of the city.
The hope is the deck not only makes it easier for students, but for anyone hoping to visit downtown.
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Students, staff and even the neighbors around the Laney Walker area say they used to dream about the day when AU would have more parking. That day is finally here.
A parking deck is not something you’d think to celebrate, but in this case, it is.
“It was really a relief. I came to school, and I was talking to everybody about it. I was like, did you guys see that email?” said dental student Sandra Bangiyev.
To some, finding a parking spot is sometimes harder than ing a final.
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AU student London Vickers said: “If you get here early enough in the morning, say before about 7:30. Uh, it’s easy to get a spot in one of the decks.”
But if you are running a just little late, Vickers says, “Then you’re gonna have to park across RA Dent on what we called like the Laney parking lot, Laney Walker parking lot.”
Six levels of parking spaces are proving to be concrete proof Augusta University is growing.
Commissioner Francine Scott said: “Believe it or not, I believe it was like four years ago we had a community meeting with the residents of the Laney Walker Bethlehem community.”
At one point, neighborhoods around the campus looked more like parking lots.
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“Emergency vehicles couldn’t get through the streets, and it was just some issues, growing pains, I call it growing pains, that they were having,” said Scott.
This is more than just a structure.
AU student Brandon Barton said: “This campus is starting to get very popular. So, more and more people come in each and every single year.”
It’s about growth.
Bangiyev said: “A parking deck, it’s been a long time coming. We’ve been talking about building a new parking deck for years, so this is like, kind of a dream come true for us, honestly.”
The deck opened two months ahead of schedule.
It’s by one of the dorms and the dental college.
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