Construction of the Student Recreation Center has closed two-thirds of the G4 parking lot and a campus road.

The recreation center construction started on Dec. 21, 2009 and is expected to be completed in January 2012.

“There will be less spots,” said Capt. Alfredo Fernandez of Parking and Transportation Services. “That is one of the main reasons we built the parking structure [G3] first.”

The G3 parking structure was completed in early 2009 and has around 2000 parking spots, according to CSUN’s web site. The first floor is designated for faculty but the other four are for students.

The remaining portion of the G4 lot will have 110 student parking spots and 180 faculty spots, said Fernandez. Street parking west of the East Field will be designated for faculty as well.

Because of the road closure and construction, Fernandez said Parking and Transportation will be ready to try to alleviate any potential traffic with staff and traffic directors.
All available directors were outside Tuesday to help students throughout campus for the first day back to school.

“They did well today,” said Fernandez. “There were no complaints.”

Students trying to find parking had a different story.

Mike Simpson, 21, a junior majoring in humanities, had a hard time finding parking.

“I thought the rain would be my only problem this morning,” he said. “I didn’t realize parking would be so hectic, too. It literally took me 20 minutes to park my car. Look, I’m late to class on my first day.”

Sophomore Lindsay Wilson, 19, an art major, was unaware of the construction.

“It’s only my second semester,” she said. “To be honest, I’ve never even parked on this side of campus — and I think I picked the wrong day to.”

Ken Rosenthal, manager of construction services at CSUN, said Campus Road B has been closed, and will eventually reopen as a pedestrian walkway once construction has been completed.

To replace Campus Road B, Matador Road, which was built to allow additional access to the new G3 parking structure, will be extended along the Student Recreation Center to intersect with Campus Road C, said Rosenthal.

Matador Road can be accessed by turning onto Dearborn Street off of Zelzah Avenue.
The road extension will improve drivability in the area by allowing easier access to the main roads, said Fernandez.

“The longer walk to the parking structure will make a big difference but I think that in the long run, the recreation center will be worth it,” said Sarah Caine, 22, a senior linguistics major.

According to Fernandez, the projected map layout should remain stable throughout the course of construction and the recreation center is slated to open during the 2011-2012 school year.

Senior Candice Chen, 22, a Philosophy major was not surprised with the traffic congestion.

“It’s to be expected [delays]. I mean, parking always sucks on the first day of each semester, and having that lot under construction doesn’t help.”

Additional reporting by Kristin Hirai