Timberdoodle
Member
- Mar 16, 2025
- 41
- 34
So.
in the past few years, the University of Georgia has been taking a lot of their green spaces and paving them over for parking lots. in some cases, it's pretty nice because it provides some trailheads for our greenway network and such, but in others we're generally left wondering why the University felt the need to install a parking lot that far exceeds the needs of that particular location.
A good example being this project at UGA Vet Med. this imagery is from about 18 months ago during the initial construction of the new lot. there was already a turn lane and everything. no problems with regard to present infrastructure. painted cycle lane, and 4 lanes on college station rd. with a speed limit of 35 (people obviously go 50 and drive like clowns, as I'm sure you know).
the parking lot had a bus stop and the impression we got as a community was that the parking lot would allow commuter students to park here at the edge of town and bus in, to reduce congestion in downtown and on campus, which tbh is a pretty admirable goal.
well it turns out that none of that is happening. the flock of college gals who live next door to me were telling me a while back that they tried to use the bus system to get to class and the whole system is so slow and infrequent that it takes them an hour to get from campus. *BELOVED READER, OUR FRONT DOORS ARE 2.35 MILES FROM THE LITERAL CENTER OF CAMPUS*
The whole reason the conversation started was that they had seen me on the Vomit Comet and were looking for an alternative (which, guess what, I get to campus in 10 minutes, 15 if there's traffic).
So that parking lot has sat mostly empty for the entirety of its existence.
here's a before and after. Note; that is the most I have EVER seen in that parking lot and it is at maybe 40% capacity
Now note the gorgeous Oak Trees. the City of Athens and the University had planted those trees over 20 years ago to shade the sidewalk and the bike path. specifically. and I've watched them grow since I first came through in 2007. splendid shade trees to have, especially in high summer when Elias and I are riding.
Well, last week I came back from a hurricane salvage to discover that ALL of the trees were in the process of being taken down, bulldozed, and the ground ripped up to expand the parking lot and build a bigger turn lane. that turn lane is one of the most dangerous parts of my ride because the impatient carbrained types will do *anything* to get to their destinations as fast as possible, and making it bigger will only expose cyclists to more danger.
when I saw them in the act, I called my friends in the county forester's office. they told me that I was about the thousandth call they had gotten so far, and that UGA was being incredibly combative toward the Athens-Clarke County staff about it, citing the Supremacy clause, and stating that they had no obligation to notify the county of the construction or tree felling. Not only this, but they told ACC that the county's urban canopy ordinances do NOT apply to them at all because they're a state entity.
within about 24 hours, I called my friends on personal business, and the news was, surprisingly, worse. the gorgeous open parkspace in front of Vet Med, along with at least half of the trees present, would be turned into yet another empty parking lot. Add to this, they had called the University Forester to figure out what to do to deal with the massive canopy (shade) losses, and *that was the first time the University Forester was hearing of it.* The UGA Architect did NOT even consult any of their own land management staff before starting this construction project. Even the President's office was blindsided.
So. now a huge chunk of east Athens is being denuded to make more empty parking lots.
I'm seeing this as a full-spectrum attack on the community. the University has done nothing to improve the public transit that these satellite parking lots would feed, and new student housing construction is only occurring if the project is high-end luxury units, so effectively only the wealthiest students can afford to live near campus. the rest being in either East Athens or the surrounding counties, and their parking permits are assigned to a specific parking lot, making it punishable to use another. so these students have no choice but to park in lots that are miles from campus and ride hours to reach their classes. this travesty is but a minor symptom of a larger problem.
Question is, what to do about it. I've been thinking of writing an Op/Ed in the local paper to address my concerns with such reckless behavior, but the fire and brimstone fury generated by such blatant timber theft has me still seeing red on the matter. The county foresters are furious, the locals are in an uproar, and here we are with a renegade Architect in Atlanta using the supremacy clause to abuse our community and make it a hotter, more dangerous environment.
Anybody have any ideas? rope in the cycling/multi-use folks and the timber crowd? I don't want this to become a NIMBY infested mess.
in the past few years, the University of Georgia has been taking a lot of their green spaces and paving them over for parking lots. in some cases, it's pretty nice because it provides some trailheads for our greenway network and such, but in others we're generally left wondering why the University felt the need to install a parking lot that far exceeds the needs of that particular location.
A good example being this project at UGA Vet Med. this imagery is from about 18 months ago during the initial construction of the new lot. there was already a turn lane and everything. no problems with regard to present infrastructure. painted cycle lane, and 4 lanes on college station rd. with a speed limit of 35 (people obviously go 50 and drive like clowns, as I'm sure you know).
the parking lot had a bus stop and the impression we got as a community was that the parking lot would allow commuter students to park here at the edge of town and bus in, to reduce congestion in downtown and on campus, which tbh is a pretty admirable goal.
well it turns out that none of that is happening. the flock of college gals who live next door to me were telling me a while back that they tried to use the bus system to get to class and the whole system is so slow and infrequent that it takes them an hour to get from campus. *BELOVED READER, OUR FRONT DOORS ARE 2.35 MILES FROM THE LITERAL CENTER OF CAMPUS*
The whole reason the conversation started was that they had seen me on the Vomit Comet and were looking for an alternative (which, guess what, I get to campus in 10 minutes, 15 if there's traffic).
So that parking lot has sat mostly empty for the entirety of its existence.
here's a before and after. Note; that is the most I have EVER seen in that parking lot and it is at maybe 40% capacity
Now note the gorgeous Oak Trees. the City of Athens and the University had planted those trees over 20 years ago to shade the sidewalk and the bike path. specifically. and I've watched them grow since I first came through in 2007. splendid shade trees to have, especially in high summer when Elias and I are riding.
Well, last week I came back from a hurricane salvage to discover that ALL of the trees were in the process of being taken down, bulldozed, and the ground ripped up to expand the parking lot and build a bigger turn lane. that turn lane is one of the most dangerous parts of my ride because the impatient carbrained types will do *anything* to get to their destinations as fast as possible, and making it bigger will only expose cyclists to more danger.
when I saw them in the act, I called my friends in the county forester's office. they told me that I was about the thousandth call they had gotten so far, and that UGA was being incredibly combative toward the Athens-Clarke County staff about it, citing the Supremacy clause, and stating that they had no obligation to notify the county of the construction or tree felling. Not only this, but they told ACC that the county's urban canopy ordinances do NOT apply to them at all because they're a state entity.
within about 24 hours, I called my friends on personal business, and the news was, surprisingly, worse. the gorgeous open parkspace in front of Vet Med, along with at least half of the trees present, would be turned into yet another empty parking lot. Add to this, they had called the University Forester to figure out what to do to deal with the massive canopy (shade) losses, and *that was the first time the University Forester was hearing of it.* The UGA Architect did NOT even consult any of their own land management staff before starting this construction project. Even the President's office was blindsided.
So. now a huge chunk of east Athens is being denuded to make more empty parking lots.
I'm seeing this as a full-spectrum attack on the community. the University has done nothing to improve the public transit that these satellite parking lots would feed, and new student housing construction is only occurring if the project is high-end luxury units, so effectively only the wealthiest students can afford to live near campus. the rest being in either East Athens or the surrounding counties, and their parking permits are assigned to a specific parking lot, making it punishable to use another. so these students have no choice but to park in lots that are miles from campus and ride hours to reach their classes. this travesty is but a minor symptom of a larger problem.
Question is, what to do about it. I've been thinking of writing an Op/Ed in the local paper to address my concerns with such reckless behavior, but the fire and brimstone fury generated by such blatant timber theft has me still seeing red on the matter. The county foresters are furious, the locals are in an uproar, and here we are with a renegade Architect in Atlanta using the supremacy clause to abuse our community and make it a hotter, more dangerous environment.
Anybody have any ideas? rope in the cycling/multi-use folks and the timber crowd? I don't want this to become a NIMBY infested mess.
