Columbia police are cracking down on parking in and around East Campus starting, well, now.
Cars in front of fire hydrants and yellow lines and blocking driveways will be ticketed and towed to relieve congestion, Capt. Zim Schwartze said.
“Every year around this time there are issues between residents and students,” Schwartze said. “Parking is at a premium here in Columbia and the East Campus area, and there never seems to be enough of it.”
East Campus Neighborhood Association president Cavanaugh Noce said parking has been a problem in East Campus ever since he was a student at MU in 1991.
“The problem is that more people keep moving in and there simply aren’t enough parking spots for everyone,” Noce said. “Students who live far off campus park here to go to classes, which only adds to the problem. Every year it gets worse and worse. You can hardly get through the neighborhood some days.”
Schwartze suggests that students who park in East Campus leave earlier for classes, or use the parking garages around campus.
“When students are running late, they are often careless,” she said. “They illegally park and compromise the safety of the residents in East Campus. We’re not trying to be mean. It’s a safety issue so that emergency vehicles can reach their destination.”
Noce, who recently made an unsuccessful bid for a judgeship, sees a different solution.
“I think that the problem isn’t just with the students and the university but also with parking at Boone Hospital Center,” he said. “Both MU and the hospital need to and are trying to build more parking spaces, but it’s just not enough. The Columbia area is growing fast, and East Campus is affected.”
One student disagreed.
“I have never had a problem with parking in my part of the neighborhood,” said Joe Schlotzhauer, a first-year law student who lives on Anthony Street. “It’s not overly crowded where I live, so I have friends that don’t live in the area but park here. I guess that if the police are getting involved, then it is a problem.”
East Campus is generally defined as the area encompassed by College Avenue on the west, East Broadway and the Boone Hospital Center on the north, Old Highway 63 on the east and East Rollins Road on the south.