Cherry on Top

Parking is easy to find on campus, if you know where to look

How do we love the Cherry Street Parking Structure? Let us count the ways …

It’s Chillin’

On a recent hot summer day, we placed thermometers in two cars – one parked in the shade in the Cherry Street garage, the other in the open air and direct sun in lot 24 behind the Administrative Center. We placed the thermometers around 11 a.m. and checked them around 4 p.m.

The outdoor car registered a whopping 165 degrees F. The one parked in the shaded garage registered 87 degrees F. That’s a 78-degree difference, and that’ll melt your popsicle in a hurry.

(And yes, that 165-degree figure is accurate. That’s why they smash windows to rescue children and pets from hot cars.)

Short Hop

Getting from the garage to your destination is probably not as great a trek as you think – as long as you take the right route.

Shortest distance to the Administrative Center, for example: leave the garage through the south exit on the third level, cross the driveway, turn right, then left through the courtyard of the Oak Street Residence Hall to the University Way outdoor staircase. Turn left on the stairs, go up half a flight, and then turn right to head to the second-floor east entrance to the building.

We timed it recently, and it was a pleasant three-minute walk at a leisurely pace – 378 steps, according to FitBit.

Downhill in Both Directions

Wait, what? Yes, it can be done, thanks to the miracle of modern elevator science. Going to the garage from the Administrative Center, just reverse the directions above. It’s downhill all the way. Coming from the garage in the opposite direction, just take the garage elevator to the fifth level, cross the covered pedestrian walkway and continue straight behind Cherry Hall to the University Way staircase. From there, again, it’s downhill all the way.

Doing Our Fit Bit

On the other hand, going uphill in both directions has its advantages, too – stronger legs, burned calories and improved aerobic capacity among them. And don’t forget – even if you’re walking downhill, you’re earning points for the Million Step Pedometer Program, which offers prizes, rebates and can figure into your Wellness Incentive effort.

Don’t forget that the garage offers secure bicycle storage, and two public showers that may be used by bicyclists, whether or not you’re enrolled in the employee Ride to Wellness program.

Winter of Our Content

“Oh, sure, you love the garage in the summer when you get that cool, shady parking spot. But what happens come January when the wind blows cold and winter grabs us in its icy grip?”

Oh, you’re going to miss digging out after being plowed in to an outdoor spot? And scraping a quarter-inch of ice from your windshield? Sorry to spoil all that fun …

Net Profit

Yes, we are losing a few parking spaces on campus because of the development of the 51 Oak project. But we are still ending up with many, many more total parking spaces than we had before the Cherry Street garage opened in September 2012. The first four levels of the garage are reserved for registered student, faculty and staff vehicles; levels 5 and 6 offer metered parking for visitors,

We are losing 99 faculty/staff spaces and 96 metered visitor spaces in the Oak Street lot directly west of the Administrative Center; and another 62 student spaces in lot 32W, directly west of the Education Building (where the Young Matrons clubhouse is being relocated). But opening the Cherry Street Parking Structure added 1,500 faculty/staff, student and metered public spaces to our overall campus total, so we are still way ahead of where we were before it opened.

The Deets

  • Six levels
  • 1,500 spaces
  • Three elevators (northeast corner, southwest corner and center of south side)
  • Two covered pedestrian walkways
  • Two showers
  • Covered parking at no extra charge!

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