This content was published: January 6, 2015. Phone numbers, email addresses, and other information may have changed.
New lot relieves parking pressure at Southeast Campus
Photos and story by Katherine Miller
The newly paved and striped parking Lot B is now open for business at Southeast Campus. The lot has several bioswales to remove silt and pollution from surface runoff water.
January 6, 2015
PCC Southeast is bigger and better than ever, thanks to the improvements and upgrades paid for by the 2008 bond measure. But on this busy and diverse campus, parking has always been a challenge. However, the opening this week of North Parking Lot B should ease competition for spots.
The 76 newly paved and striped spaces occupy a former U-Haul site.
“The new parking lot will make a big difference for our students,” said Christine Egan, campus community relations manager. “If you add the spaces in front of our Administration Building, as well as the number of spaces in Parking Lot B, we actually have an estimated 702 spaces total. This doesn’t include the informal spaces that students have created along the edges of the parking lot west of Mt. Tabor.”
Demand for the new parking spots is likely to be high. With Southeast’s recent transition from a center to a full-fledged campus, college officials say that they are expecting a significant increase in enrollment.
Motorists can enter the new lot from Southeast 82nd Avenue. As with all college parking lots, a permit is required. A term permit for a student is $45 if purchased online; $50 if purchased on campus. Permits for winter term will be available online until 8 p.m. Jan. 5. After that date, permits may only be purchased at a campus Student Account Services Office.
With on-campus parking limited, many students commute by bus. When PCC offered 400 subsidized TriMet bus passes (three-month) for $190 each at Southeast Campus this fall term, they sold out in two days, said Egan. A regularly priced three-month TriMet pass is $300.
Campus officials are hoping that the Powell-Division Transit and Development Project, the region’s first bus rapid transit project, will make commuting easier and relieve parking pressure. Service, which could pass Southeast Campus on either 82nd Avenue or Division Street, could begin as soon as 2020.
PCC’s 2008 voter-approved $374 million bond program is increasing opportunities for residents to access quality, affordable higher education close to where they live and work. Additional classrooms, updated equipment and technology, and advanced workforce training programs are helping to pave the way for future employment options. For more information, visit the bond website.