To say parking is a pain at Le Moyne is an understatement; between closed lots, tickets on windshields, and unauthorized vehicles taking up spots, it’s become the bane of the semester for everyone impacted.

While an immediate fix is not applicable, there are short and long-term solutions that will hopefully ease the stress of paying to park at Le Moyne. I sat down with head of security Derek McGork to get a better sense of what the school is doing behind the scenes.

Students will be happy to hear that the school is looking to add between 60-65 additional parking spaces in front of Mitchell Hall. As of right now, the Board of Trustees has approved the project and can now move forward with gaining zoning approval from the city. After this occurs, engineers will be brought in to survey the space and plan the construction. 

This sounds fairly simple, but adding parking is costly and time-consuming. Should the project move forward without any obstacles, Derek predicts it could be done as early as next fall, but he emphasizes that this is not confirmed and is merely a generous estimate.

Administration is also conducting research that will tell them whether adding more classes on Friday will free up more spaces during the week. Right now, most classes are held Monday through Thursday, meaning more people are in need of parking on those days. If additional courses are offered on Fridays, this could potentially reduce the congestion in the lots.

In the meantime, the security office encourages students to reach out when they have trouble finding parking, though recently, tensions between security and students have been higher due to tickets being issued. This is indeed frustrating, but there are ways to avoid fees in the future.

First, note when you arrive at school and begin looking for parking, as this can be used in the event that you get a ticket you don’t feel you deserve. Security can check the cameras at the exact time to confirm whether you truly did not have a place to park. 

Be sure to check all parking lots for spaces before deciding to park where your permit is not designated, and give security a call to let them know where you end up. Or, if you’ve circled all lots and can’t find an open spot, someone in the office will be able to refer to cameras and direct you to an open space you may have missed. 

Many students have been parking along the sides of Lot C on the grass. Security wants everyone to know that this is not allowed and causes damage to the turf that the school must repair. They would rather you park in a different lot than along the grass. 

Commuter Club is also looking for ways to ease the stress of the situation by working with Le Moyne and the security office to determine when parking will be impacted by events. The club will act as a liaison to get the word out to students as soon as possible so commutes can be adjusted accordingly. Commuter Club has also set up a student-run GroupMe to notify each other of when routes to Le Moyne are closed or hindered by construction. 

Unfortunately, until new parking spaces are added, Le Moyne students will have to contend with packed lots, but security is willing to work with everyone to ensure a safe and timely manner of parking. 

Le Moyne Campus Security: (315) 445-4444
Commuter Club GroupMe: Commuter Traffic Updates