With people coming in from all over the state to watch Texas A&M versus Lamar on Saturday, parking could be a problem for those who don’t know rules and regulations.
Transportation Services has had signs displayed all week to let students know which lots they will have to be out of by Friday afternoon in preparation for Midnight Yell and the game.
Debbie Hoffman, associate director of Transportation Services, said students need to move by 6 a.m. Saturday so permit holders may take their cars to attend Midnight Yell before moving their vehicles.
“Vehicles not moved by the appropriate time will be cited, removed and students will be responsible for paying the associated fines,” Hoffman said. “Lots have to be ready for 12th Man permit holders, et cetera”
Students who park in West Campus Garage should be aware of the latest change, Hoffmann said.
“For each football game week , [West Campus Resident] permit holders will be asked to move their vehicle to the 5th, 6th, or 7th floors of the garage by 6 a.m. on game day. This allows for the 12th Man reserved parking in West Campus Garage on the lower levels,” Hoffman said. “A football icon appears on signs indicating the levels that are reserved for 12th Man.”
Along with university regulations, the city of College Station also has rules and regulations about parking, both by state and local law. Lacey Lively, marketing and community outreach coordinator for the city, said along with state laws ,like not being able to park within 15 feet of a fire hydrant or park facing traffic, there are also local ordinances fans should know about. For example, lively said parking in a yard is not allowed.
Lively said it is also against local ordinance to sell parking spaces in yards because it is considered a business, and it’s illegal to operate a business in a residential neighborhood in College Station.
Instead of parking on campus, Lively said people could park at Post Oak Mall and shuttle to and from campus.
“A lot of people also don’t know that [the city does] the parking at the surface lots at Northgate as well as the parking garage,” Lively said. “I know those fill up really fast, especially for gameday, but they also can buy contracts through the garage. I know they’re still available. You can get a contract monthly, per six months or yearly.”
Christa Walker, psychology senior, said her car was towed while she was at the Student Recreation Center and she received two parking citations — one for leaving her car in a space past its two -hour limit and one because she left her car there the day before a game.
“The aftermath of getting towed was pretty stressful,” Walker said. “After walking around for a long time on West Campus and asking several staff people, I finally learned that my car had been towed to one of the farthest away lots in West Campus.”
Walker said it was a hard lesson to learn and that she is now more careful about where she parks.
Lynn Wiggs, manager of special events, said on-campus parking spaces is not much of a concern, even with the increased seating capacity of the stadium.
“We have enough space to accommodate the increased seating,” Wiggs said. “Alabama was our largest game parking wise last year and we still had over 4,000 spaces across campus available.”
More shuttle buses will be running off-campus on routes 26, 31 and 36. “Destination Aggieland” a new game day app, also provides information about routes to campus and has a link to pay for parking.