Parking on campus is limited this week due to the high school 4A and 5A state basketball tournaments held Wednesday through Saturday at the Huntsman Center
Shea Renner, spokesperson for the U’s Commuter Services, said this will especially affect the parking lots at Rice-Eccles Stadium, Guardsman Way and the Student Life Center. These are areas that basketball teams and spectators are allowed to use, so displaced U students might fill up other lots more than usual.
Games will begin every day at 2:30 p.m. and will run for the rest of the night. The only spot students will not be permitted to park is the cul-de-sac by the Huntsman Center.
Renner suggests taking TRAX, UTA buses or carpooling to reduce the amount of cars on campus. She suspects this should not affect students on campus only for morning classes. The tournament ends Saturday afternoon, but a U basketball game will also impact parking later that night.
Mason Barnhill, an undeclared sophomore, plays lacrosse for the U and said these events always make it more difficult for him to find a spot.
“Usually [the event] is at night, so I’ll be going to lacrosse practice and I’ll end up being late because there is no parking where there normally would be,” he said.
Barnhill parks at the Student Life Center, and even though he knows it will be a pain to find a spot, he is going to stick to that plan.
The U hosts the high school basketball tournament every year. While complaints are common, they make changes as necessary. For example, many workers and patients at the Madsen Health Clinic complained, so that area is no longer available for event parking.
“We try to really accommodate people who come to campus on a regular basis and understand their needs as much as we can,” Renner said. “But, we do it within our constraints.”
@carolyn_webber