A $30 million multilevel parking structure that is expected to begin construction early next year will be funded by a parking rate increase that went into effect for 2019-20.

The  project is planned for the east side of Parking Lot 13 and will provide a net increase of 800 spaces. The project is expected to take a year to complete and open in early 2021.

With 1200 spaces, the new parking structure is expected to help relieve the parking crunch on campus and help meet the needs of the growing campus, said Irma Henderson, director of Transportation Services. It will also help provide additional spaces that allow the campus to start planning for a second parking structure project.

The new parking rates, with an average increase of 4.5%, went into effect Sept. 1. The monthly increase is $1 for gold permits, $2.50 for blue permits, and $4.50 for red permits. A complete list of rates is available on the Transportation Services website.

As an auxiliary operation, Transportation and Parking Services department, or TAPS, funds construction and maintenance through user fees, such as parking permits, and does not receive state funding for those projects.

Over the past year, TAPS has repaved the majority of campus roads and several parking lots while adding brighter, energy efficient LED lighting. Parking Lot 50 was renovated to add 361 gold spaces to the parking supply. TAPS has also created a construction parking plan for the several projects underway on campus.

For the new academic year, TAPS is introducing  the orange parking permit, which will allow users to park all day in leased spaces near the campus. Currently, there are two lots that provide about 200 spaces. One is located behind University Extension at the International Village apartment complex. The other is one on Blaine Street and Canyon Crest Drive. After 6 p.m., orange permit holders can park in the blue permit areas of Lots 1, 6, 9, 13, 23, and 24.

Starting this fall, the hours that gold permit holders can park in blue and red lots has also changed from after 4 p.m. to after 6 p.m.

The change was made to accommodate staff and faculty members staying later on campus for meetings, classes, offices hours, and other responsibilities. Some have complained that they were unable to find parking in their assigned lots in the afternoon while there were spaces available in the gold lots, Henderson said.

Finally, TAPS will no longer require permits in gold lots after 6 p.m. and all day on weekends. The changed is aimed at encouraging the campus community to utilize resources in the evenings and weekends while reducing traffic and parking demands during the day, Henderson said.