A new light by the entrance to the car park opposite the hospital in addition to a closed barrier lets people know whether there is space or not. This new measure is a relief to those who have hemmed in by someone double parked, or found their way forward blocked by one. However, this has also brought about new problems: illegal parking along the access road.
Alexander Goorden of Facility Services (FS), responsible for monitoring the university’s parking policy, confirms this. “I see cars parked on the side of the road that were never there before October.” For safety reasons, parking is strictly forbidden there. Anybody who does park there risks being fined, the university warned in a message on the UMployee intranet at the end of October.
Complaints from students
The question is, who do those illegally parked cars belong to? There is no hard evidence, but Goorden suspects those cars belong mostly to students. The Sorbonnelaan car park is the only UM car park where students are also allowed to park. In October, FS received three complaints from students who were faced with a closed barrier. “And we’ve heard from facility managers, for example, that students are starting to complain about it.” Goorden suspects this is in large part because the students are unaware of the new policy.
So then where should they go? Anyone not willing to risk a fine can park in the surrounding neighbourhood, at MUMC+, or at Randwyck station. Usually not for free, so the advice on UMployee is to leave home earlier, or travel by bike or public transport.