Traffic congestion signals return of MTSU students on The Murfreesboro Post

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Traffic congestion signals return of MTSU students

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By: RANDY WEILER, mtsunews.com

Posted: Sunday, September 2, 2012 12:00 am

Traffic congestion signals return of MTSU students | MTSU, Traffic, Parking, Murfreesboro, Schools

At one point Tuesday, a campus official said only about 20 parking spaces scattered across campus were available to drivers.

For anyone who has been on vacation this week, was glued to Tropical Storm and Hurricane Isaac television coverage or just plain and simply paid no attention …

They’re back. The 26,000 or so MTSU students, that is.

Last Monday’s daylong traffic congestion let drivers know students had returned. Not only in the quadrant surrounding the heart of the 515-acre campus, — East Main Street, Greenland Drive and Middle Tennessee and Rutherford boulevards —but in all streets that lead to and away from the university, traffic was no fun.

Heavy traffic continued all week. This included the late-afternoon crisscrossing of folks leaving campus after being there most of the day and night-class students all trying to arrive between 5:30 and 6 p.m. to find their parking spaces.

Traffic was such a bottleneck that even the MTSU parking lot on Rutherford Boulevard, along the east side of campus, was overflowing for possibly the first time ever.

At one point Tuesday, a campus official said only about 20 spaces scattered across campus were available to drivers. For most of this fall, all MTSU lots will be full during the heart of the day.

MTSU has fewer parking spaces this fall because of campus construction, which includes two parking garages, one on Champion Way about a block or so from Greenland Drive and the other near the new Student Union Building and Student Health, Wellness and Recreation Center.

Already, a number of accidents have occurred that throw peoples’ days off. Wrecks seem to happen at major intersections like Greenland Drive and Middle Tennessee Boulevard, but students, faculty and staff also can be involved in accidents around town as they are either on their way to MTSU or headed home.

Unfortunately, some people — students and others — perish or are severely injured, especially if the accidents happen at higher rates of speed.

MTSU, with nearly 30,000 students, faculty and staff combined, has lost several students to death in the past five to six years. Not all die in traffic accidents; some die of natural causes and other reasons.

The university does not want to lose any student for any reason. We want them all to graduate and enjoy successful careers.

To students, faculty, staff and even myself, please consider the following:

Leave home early. Drive safely and defensively. Be patient. Wear your seat belt. Watch the school zones. Avoid running red lights. Don’t drink and drive. And don’t text and drive. Apply the “I AM true BLUE” philosophy to your driving habits.

"I am True Blue," the first line in the “True Blue Pledge,” began at MTSU as an affirmation of the best ideals shared by the Blue Raider community. It signals values, commitment to student success and devotion to the institution. It also calls upon all — students, alumni, faculty, staff and administration alike — to be valuable contributors to the progress of the university.

Once on campus, please don’t park in handicapped spots unless you have current permits. It’s a $200 fine for violators.

Be safe.
Randy Weiler is a writer and media liaison in the MTSU Office of News and Media Relations, whose website is mtsunews.com.

Tagged under MTSU, Murfreesboro, Parking, Schools, Traffic

Member Opinions:

By: mrm5j_mtsu_f12 on 9/4/12
The parking situation on campus is getting ridiculous. Two convenient lots have been closed to build the parking garages, which current students probably will not even be able to enjoy. I've gotten to the point where I don't even attempt to park remotely close to campus. I've made peace with the fact that I'm going to have to walk quite a distance to get to class. It would be wonderful if the buses didn't take so long to get to the lots and weren't always crowded, but this isn't the case. That way, we wouldn't have to be concerned with where we park, because the bus could drive us as close to our class as we wanted to be. I was on a bus on Thursday that was so full, the driver had to turn people away. The root of the problem is simply, there are too many students and not enough parking spaces. Lots and spaces have been changed to "teacher only" parking and are rarely full (which makes no sense to me). Hopefully MTSU can get it together and these parking garages will help the problem, but I'm not sure if that will even help. I think MTSU should really assess the amount of "teacher parking" that's actually being used and make those unused lots available to students.