Coping with Traffic Woes;
Frustrations are Temporary

By Erin Chupp
News Bureau

Patience and alternate routes can help ease drivers' headaches over major repairs to Alabama Highway 204 and the problems in or near student parking areas at Jacksonville State University.

Extensive work, including asphalt removal and new paving, is occurring on Alabama Highway 204, which runs in front of Mathews Coliseum and east to the intersection of Highway 204 and Alabama Highway 21 North (Pelham Rd. N.) adjacent to the International House.

University Police Chief Terry Schneider encourages students and employees who normally travel Highway 204 to take one of these alternate routes:

-- Traffic coming from U.S. Highway 431 should turn onto the Old Gadsden Highway, which, if you're traveling toward campus, is the road to the right just before Cooter Brown's Rib Shack; from there, drivers should take Mountain Street to campus.

-- Between Cooter Brown's and campus on Nesbit Lake Rd., drivers can take Pennsylvania Ave. to Mountain St.

-- From Highway 21 (North Pelham Rd.), drivers can access JSU from the main entrance across from Cole Library; turn onto University and Trustee Circle.

University officials realize construction for the new Art Annex next to Dixon Hall is a source of frustration for students. UPD is asking students to park in the area near Ayers Hall off of Harwell Ave., which runs behind the International House.

"We see construction as progress," says Chief Schneider. "Things will get better."

Campus drivers should understand that regular parking rules will still be enforced throughout campus. This means that from 7:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. everyone must park in the appropriate colored-coded spots or risk a ticket.

As a reminder:

-- blue curbs mean parking spaces are for staff and faculty;

-- white indicates visitor parking (visitors must obtain a visitor parking permit from UPD);

-- red curbs signal student parking (with decal properly displayed);

-- and specially-marked blue and white curbs show the handicapped zones.

-- Parking at yellow curbs is prohibited at all times.

Officers have been given authority to use discretion when issuing parking tickets near the art annex construction site; however, students should not assume they will not receive a ticket when a violation occurs.

The university administration is currently looking at alternative parking arrangements for the affected areas of campus during peak usage hours.

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