Anne Virginia KoeppRepoerter

Parking consultant Joe Bilotta will be on campus Sept. 23 to present a new campus parking plan.

The consultant was brought to campus after the administration felt the need to evaluate parking.

“[Parking] is probably the one area that we get the most criticism about,” Provost Laurie Nichols at a Faculty Senate meeting Sept. 14.

Specific details of the plan will not be released until the Sept. 23 meeting.

“As of now, the plans have only been vetted to Administration and the Parking and Traffic committee,” said Dean Kattelmann, assistant vice president for facilities and services.

Bilotta reviewed the campus in April and will be unveiling a walking campus proposal to the public at 2 p.m. in the Volstorff Ballroom in The Union.

Students are encouraged to attend the presentation.

“It is really quite a remarkable report,” Nichols said. “Some of the things he shares are really quite eye-opening.”

The basic concept of the plan is to shift parking lots to the edges of campus. This will eliminate all direct traffic across university grounds.

“For the walking campus to become a true reality, we need to eliminate most of the parking on the interior of campus so that we can have more sidewalks cut directly through the center of campus,” said Anthony Sutton, parking and traffic committee chair for the Students’ Association.

A walking campus will not begin until another phase of construction starts. Some students are not in favor of the idea.

“It seems unnecessary as long as there are no accidents,” said Abby Carter, a junior broadcast journalism major from Sundance, Wyo. “When you’re cold, it’s nice to drive to class.”

Sutton said an all-walking campus should be something that happens in the future.

“I am in favor of a walking campus, but we need to have all of the construction projects on campus finished before we can truly and safely walk across campus,” Sutton said.

Nichols said she is excited for the plan to be presented.

“It’s more sophisticated and more refined than anything we’ve looked at on campus until now,” Nichols said.

Managing Editor Emma DeJong contributed to this report.

#1.1641165:593051082.jpg:The upcoming parking discussion will cover a long-term future for SDSU?s parking policies.:The upcoming parking discussion will cover a long-term future for SDSU?s parking policies to create an all-walking campus.:Collegian photo by Ryan Robinson#1.1641168:1694058266.jpg:The upcoming parking discussion will cover a long-term future for SDSU?s parking policies.:The upcoming parking discussion will cover a long-term future for SDSU?s parking policies to create an all-walking campus.:Collegian photo by Ryan Robinson