Message from the Chancellor
Message from the Vice Chancellor
Changes in Campus Parking
Beginning Wednesday, July 19, 2006, all students, faculty, staff and visitors who drive to UMass Boston must park in our outdoor lots or the Campus Center garage. Access to the Upper Level and Lower Level garages will cease.
The campus will be able to accommodate all summer session students, faculty and staff in outdoor parking facilities and the parking garage located beneath the new Campus Center.
While vacating the use of the garage was imminent because of ongoing repairs and escalating costs, Chancellor Collins chose to implement the change during the relative quiet of the summer months. In September, the university will implement a Parking and Transportation program to serve our full-scale operations.
The Chancellor understands these parking restrictions may be inconvenient, but the university will aggressively undertake a program to ensure that people who need assistance will receive courteous and prompt help from our staff.
We encourage those students and staff who can, to take public transportation and the free shuttle bus service provided by the campus from the JFK/UMass MBTA station .
Parking is available on campus in: (View map)
- North Lot
- South Lot
- 120 Lot – next to the Clark Athletic Center
- 150 Lot – next to the Service Building
- Campus Center garage – accessed via North Lot
Handicap Parking:
There are 24 handicap parking spaces available – 12 in the South Lot, 3 in the North Lot and 9 in the Campus Center garage. Carol DeSouza at 617-287-7607 will be happy to answer questions from drivers requiring handicapped accessible parking.
Public Safety and Parking and Transportation staff members will be available to assist you in the days ahead and we thank you for your patience during this transition. We will continue to keep the university community updated on our parking and transportation plans.For more information, Customer Service can be reached at 7-4000 or visit http://www.umb.edu/substructure-restoration/index.html
Parking Map
FAQIs the Campus safe?
Yes. The university hired the engineering firm Simpson, Gumpertz & Heger to inspect and monitor the garage and substructure and their engineering consultants report that the facility remains a structurally sound foundation.
While regular inspections and reports have indicated that the facility is structurally sound, the Chancellor has determined that the loss of parking spaces, the continual rerouting of pedestrian and vehicle access and the associated costs with these efforts no longer make it a viable parking option for the university community.
The most recent study indicates rehabilitating the substructure would cost in excess of $150 million, and therefore it is neither feasible nor financially sound to use the structure as a garage in the future.
Will there be enough parking spaces?
Under normal summer parking conditions, there will be enough parking. In the event there is no available space, Public Safety will direct you to a satellite location and you will be shuttle bused to campus.
Approximately half of the people who come to campus on a daily basis take public transportation. In the summer, approximately 1,200 cars park on campus daily. The university has enough available spaces to serve the summer session students.
During the university’s full-time operations, between 3,100 and 3,500 cars park on campus each day. In preparation for the start of the fall semester, the university is refining its Parking and Transportation plan. Options to supplement the existing outdoor parking include placing temporary parking on vacant campus parcels, contracting with off-site lots, and encouraging more people to take public transportation.
The university will work closely with neighborhood groups, representatives from the MBTA and local officials to discuss these options.
What do these changes mean for handicap parking?
There are 24 handicap parking spaces available – 12 in the South Lot, 3 in the North Lot and 9 in the Campus Center garage. All handicap spaces will be available on site. Additional handicap parking spaces will be added for the Fall Semester. Carol DeSouza at 617-287-7607 will be happy answer questions from drivers requiring handicapped access parking.
If I have a reserved space, will I still have a reserved space outside?
We no longer have reserved parking spaces. All available spaces are open on a first come, first serve basis.
Will I be reimbursed for my reserved parking expense?
The Parking & Transportation Office will be working with Human Resources to adjust payroll deductions to reflect your new parking status.
Is my current parking pass still valid?
Yes. All passes are still valid and accepted at all lots.
What if I don’t have a parking pass?
Payment for non-pass holders will be required at entry - before you park - at the 120 lot (Clark Athletic Center) and the grassy lots adjacent to Mt. Vernon Street.
Does this mean the garage will be closed permanently?
The most recent study indicates rehabilitating the substructure would cost in excess of $150 million, and therefore it is neither feasible nor financially sound to use the structure as a garage in the future. A stabilization project, currently estimated at $25 million, has been proposed for the foundation for the long-term.
In the past year, the university, Simpson, Gumpertz & Heger engineers, the University of Massachusetts President’s Office and the Division of Capital Asset Management assessed the full scope of rehabilitating the structure and worked closely with the governor’s office, lawmakers and state officials to pursue funding. Simultaneously, the university has spent approximately $1 million to remove any loose debris, install shoring supports and re-direct pedestrian and automobile traffic throughout the substructure.
Deterioration of this kind is common for construction during this era. The campus has worked to respond to deterioration of the superstructure since the late 1980s, but the deterioration has outpaced those efforts and available funding.