Maheen Malik
A chaotic parking situation awaited students as they bid goodbye to their summer vacations and lined up outside Humber College on the first day of school on Tuesday.
Loretta Reginelli waited for 40 minutes before a parking spot became available to her, leaving a bad first impression on her.
Sept. 4 marked the first day of fall semester at the college, with the hustle and bustle of schedules and orientation buzzing throughout the North campus.
Even past noon, cars can be seen stuck in the parking circle around the college.
Many students however, found it difficult getting to classes and registration on time due to the hectic parking situation. By 8:30 a.m. most of the available spaces were filled, leaving many cars on the street and a traffic situation that screamed stressful.
Amongst the many first year students, Reginelli arrived at campus at 7:40 a.m. in hopes of arriving to her first class early.
“I didn’t get to park my car until 8:20 a.m. Obviously I got late to my class since it started at 8 a.m. so that made first day not so great,” she said. “It was going great but the parking situation was just bad.”
The parking garage, which has been under construction for the past three semesters, is still not finished, along with construction for the new Centre for Technology Innovation, causing a lot of ruckus on campus.
A parking update on the school website is promising the garage to be open and functioning by Sept. 24.
“The installation of the parking gates in lots 1, 3 and 13 will be completed over the next 3 weeks,” according to the site. Humber did not respond to calls regarding the situation.
The new multi-deck parking will have 1,000 new spaces of parking for students and visitors. But even returning students are having a hard time grasping the situation in hopes that this new garage will make things better.
“I have been at the Humber for the past three semesters and parking has always been an issue for me,” said Misbah Tariq, a returning student in the Baking Arts program. “I always have to leave my house an hour early because I know that parking will be bad and I can’t risk getting late,” she said.
The start of a fall semester is always bittersweet as summer comes to an end and school work takes over once more. Those driving to the campus will have to wait three weeks to see if the new garage will allow a solution the the never-ending issue of parking.
The school is still continuing with a variety of events and activities in honor of welcome week to help new students settle in and create a better atmosphere. Here’s to hoping that construction noise and a lack of parking will not be making a bad first impression.