Last week, the University announced parking changes for members of Tide Pride in light of the expansion of Bryant-Denny Stadium.
The plan includes changes in the location of reserved parking locations for fans and the use of criteria consistent with other Tide Pride procedures to allocate game day parking for Tide Pride season ticket holders.
Chris Besanceney, assistant athletic director for tickets and Tide Pride, said that with the stadium expansion, the necessity for additional parking to alleviate traffic flow on campus is crucial.
“The South end zone is going to require approximately 500 car spaces just to handle the skybox and South zone areas,” Besanceney said.
Besanceney said there are two issues to consider with Tide Pride members — car parking and motor home parking, which would affect around 2,500 of these members.
Regarding where members with motor homes will park, Besanceney said the majority of this parking currently takes place in three main areas — Tutwiler Hall, along Bryant Drive and Coleman Coliseum. Besanceney said one lot that will be available come football season will be located just north of the Student Recreation Center.
“One of the most important facets to remember is that no one will lose a parking privilege this year,” Besanceney said. “Everyone who had a car parking past last year, whether it be car parking or motor home, will have that pass again this year.”
All motor home owners who received a pass for the 2009 season will receive another mailing from the Tide Pride office or transportation services around April 15 or so. The letter will include a request form asking recipients to rank their parking lot preferences and will also include instructions on how to request motor home parking with friends.
However, unlike the past, Besanceney said Tide Totals priority points would determine these parking locations, a practice that many athletic programs in the Southeastern Conference have implemented. This system will be addressed at a later time.
“We were actually behind the curve,” Besanceney said.
Besanceney said that this new system would be useful outside of game weekends.
“Another positive to this is that the University now has access to another parking lot,” Besanceney said. “As the campus evolves in its growth, there’s another parking lot to handle the Monday through Friday work day with school and classes.”
Doug Walker, spokesman for the athletics department, said the main reasoning behind this relocation is keeping up with the times.
“It’s simply a reaction to a change in infrastructure,” Walker said. “It’s how you’re going to take care of the members in Tide Pride”
In the same vein as Walker, Besanceney pointed to how changes were made during the 2005-06 year when the north end zone was expanded at the stadium.
“This is an evolutionary process as to where we are,” Besanceney said. “We have the final piece of our stadium, and now we’re becoming finalized with our parking.”
Motor home parking in Tutwiler will be limited to the 20 electrical hookup spaces, and only a portion of the Coleman Coliseum lot will be used for motor home parking. Most of the Coleman Coliseum lot will be used for car parking this season.
According to a news release sent out last week to Tide Pride members, all parking lot determinations will be complete by July. In addition, all parking lots will have a specific point range for each respective parking lot. Assignments will be made based on these points.
For more information, visit rolltide.com or uagameday.com.
