The City of Florence and the University of North Alabama are partnering to address parking scarcity and traffic safety on UNA’s campus.
Due to student concerns for vehicle safety on West Hawthorne St., UNA Student Government President Kerigan Mardis coordinated with city council members to explore options to improve visibility and traffic flow on the street. Mardis said that the city plans to restrict parking along a section of the road near UNA residence halls by painting the northern curb yellow.
The city was very concerned, according to Mardis.
With the restriction of parking along West Hawthorne, Mardis was concerned for the students who regularly park there, citing already inconvenient parking for many on-campus residents.
A city official told Mardis that the decision to restrict parking was made instead of restricting movement along that street to one direction. This choice was made to avoid changing the usual flow of traffic for drivers in the area, fearing that drivers may still travel both directions out of habit.
Over 70% of student feedback received by SGA is focused around parking, according to Mardis. Because of this, Mardis and other SGA members compiled data to quantify the parking problem at UNA and presented it to UNA President Kenneth Kitts in December. She plans to meet with Kitts at the end of January to address potential solutions to improve parking for students, faculty and administration at UNA.
SGA currently plans to recommend Parking Lot O, behind Flowers Hall, as the best location for a potential future parking structure. They have also been in discussions with UNA administrators and faculty members to discuss other potential solutions.