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MUSC officials strive to ensure safe, reliable parking

by Heather Woolwine
Public Relations
Trying to plan, implement, and negotiate public and campus parking for any institution is a challenge, especially for one like MUSC.
 
Firmly rooted to the Charleston peninsula, the campus hosts scores of obstacles and compromises that must be reached to ensure that the MUSC Office of Parking Management (OPM) accomplishes its task of providing safe and reliable parking for employees, students, and patients.
 
The following is an update on the OPM’s quest to accommodate the thousands of people who access the MUSC academic medical center every day.

G Lot: winds of change
As is the nature of progress, change, and construction, G Lot will undergo a gradual makeover during the course of the next few years. G Lot is located at President and Bee streets.
 
Initially, the lot will lose 100 spaces on the Bee street side to accommodate the construction and materials needed for the new James B. Edwards College of Dental Medicine building. Once the building is completed, some of those spaces will reopen. However, the ultimate goal for G Lot will be to house several academic and clinical buildings, including a new Drug Discovery Center. Patient access to the hospital and surrounding facilities should not  be affected. Melinda Anderson, OPM director, explained that many other patient parking options will continue to exist,  such as the parking garage on Jonathon Lucas Street and the new patient parking garage on Ashley Avenue.
 
“We’re working very hard to make sure that patient parking is accessible and convenient for those coming to MUSC, and will continue to make preparations to accommodate those needs,” she said.

Patient parking and the new hospital
Anderson is a member of a collaborative team which is working on the financial package for the proposed 1,500 space garage that will sit where the MUSC helipad was once located, at the corner of Courtenay and Cannon, otherwise known as the Crosstown. “In a few months, we hope to be ready to solicit bids, and then the building timeline will be established,” Anderson said.
 
This new garage will house student and employee parking, while the garage known as the County Garage adjacent to the new hospital and Charleston Memorial Hospital will serve employees and patients.
 
“We’re working on our contract with Roper and the county offices that still use spaces there to try and accommodate their needs while freeing up the spaces MUSC needs to support the new hospital,” Anderson said. “We inherited and have honored those contracts since we acquired the garage and will continue to work with them to find a solution that works for everyone.”
 
In addition, the new hospital will have 90 spaces designated for handicapped and special needs parking below the new facility.

Student parking and online success
This year’s student online parking registration went off without a hitch, Anderson said, thanks to a tremendous effort on behalf of the Student Government Association, Office of the CIO—Information Services, and OPM.   “We worked with online parking for months and months and it was successfully effected this spring,” Anderson said. “The students were very pleased.”
 
Both students and employees have another reason to be pleased. There are student spaces left in the off-campus lots and as of right now, there is no waiting for employees for a guaranteed parking space in either the Harborview Tower parking garage or the Lockwood surface lot located adjacent to Harborview Tower. Both lots offer convenient MUSC bus service and guarantee the MUSC commuter a spot for the $35 fee.
 
“I’ve heard people say that they wouldn’t pay for a spot and then ride the bus, but if it’s important to have a guaranteed spot every day, then the Harborview parking garage or Lockwood surface lot are good alternatives,” Anderson said.

Hagood: park and ride
With the addition of extra buses into the transportation circuit, Hagood park and riders have experienced lessened wait times and faster commutes during the busy morning and afternoon hours. Last summer Charleston Area Regional Transportation Authority (CARTA) and MUSC inked a deal that outlined the provision of CARTA buses to support the MUSC fleet. The CARTA arrangement includes free access to the entire CARTA system seven-days-a-week, for the MUSC student and staff. The MUSC ID badge serves as the bus pass.
 
“We’ve had a little feedback but not much; I take the lack of comment as a good sign, a positive thing. If people weren’t happy with the service, I hope they would let us know,” Anderson said. “We’re looking forward to the express routes that CARTA hopes to establish soon and how that will help the MUSC community as well.”
 
OPM is talking with the City of Charleston now to renew the lease on the lot next to the Riley Ball Park and Stoney Field. There are also has plans to add new and expanded bus shelters at the Hagood, Hagood and Line, and Lockwood surface lots.

Other concerns
Anderson reminded those on campus that Sabin Street is a service road running one-way east-to-west from Ashley Avenue to Jonathon Lucas Street. Parking is allowed for service vehicles and loading and unloading only.
 
“The entire southside of the street is a designated fire zone, so there is absolutely no parking allowed there at any time,” she said. “With the input from the hospital and university departments that use this area, we’ve made these changes to better accommodate service to the university through designated loading zone spaces with identified time limits as well as marked loading docks.”
 
On the horizon is an additional elevator that will be added to the south side, or Rutledge Tower side, of the Ashley Avenue parking garage.
 
“So far we’ve received conceptual approval from the city, and are waiting on final design approval. From there, we’ll accept bids and get started on the second elevator to help with patient flow to and from the garage and hospital,” Anderson said.
   

Friday, June 30, 2006
Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Island Publications at 849-1778, ext. 201.