What is the best parking lot at Bradley University?
Read below to learn a little bit more about each parking spot that Bradley has to offer
Bradley University is known to have very limited parking available to students and faculty so here are some of the most accessible options for everyone.
As students at Bradley University, we have struggled with the battle of finding parking spots around campus ourselves. We have taken it upon ourselves to find the best options for students, faculty, and the general public who come to visit campus. Our research consisted of identifying the most popular places that people park on campus and finding out the limitations and accessibility to these parking lots and structures. The research that we did couldn’t identify the best overall spot to park on campus because each one has its own set of positives and negatives. On the other hand, each lot is best suited for a specific group of people on campus. There are options better than the others for the specific reasons that someone may be coming to campus.
Markin Fitness Center:
When it comes to this parking lot, there are two different places to park. There is limited parking along the strip of the front of the Markin Center and a gravel parking lot that also offers some street parking along the roadway to the back entrance as well.
When testing the parking at both 10 a.m. and 5 p.m., the front was always a tough spot to get. You either have to get lucky with finding one or two spots, or come in while another car is leaving.
For the parking in the back, there are two options. Parallel parking on the strip is just as tough finding a spot as the front lot regardless of time, while the “transitional parking lot” usually has some openings, but requires a parking pass.
When talking to students, we heard a lot of them decide to walk to the gym because of the extreme parking situation or test their luck with the transitional lot, risking a ticket.
This lot is the best viable option for students wanting to use the Markin Center as well as access other on-campus buildings because it is only one street over. The only hard part is that there are a very limited number of spaces to park so you will have to get lucky in finding a good spot.
There is a lot of street access parking around Marking Fitness Center, but the street parking is still
Student Center:
The most popular place to eat and hang out amongst the students at Bradley University would be the student center in the middle of campus. Known for its popular chain restaurants and gourmet sandwich shop this place is familiar with long lines that wrap throughout the area.
During the school day around lunchtime, you will have to be lucky to get a good spot in line for “Chick-fil-A” but not so much a parking spot. When asked about the Student Center lot Bradley student Taylor Catton, “I go eat at the student center a few times a week and never have trouble finding a parking spot”. Some parking spots are only available for 15 minutes at a time. Even though it shares a lot with some dorms like Harper Hall it still has space for tourists and other students.
Later in the day, the lot empties out. You could find 20 to 30 available spots for parking. Even though the student center and its restaurants are open until 10 pm it isn’t very busy around this time of day.
The lines painted on the asphalt are new and fresh so you can easily tell which spot is which and what the boundaries are. They give you plenty of space between each park. The parking is in a diagonal direction which makes it easier to pull in and back out.
Fredonia:
Fredonia isn’t a parking lot like the other parking spots, but it gets treated like one during the school day. Fredonia is a street just off campus where the fraternity and sorority houses are located.
When testing the parking at numerous hours of the day for multiple days it was pretty packed during the morning hours because people are either taking advantage of the free parking or they haven’t moved their cars at all from the night before. It opens up more in the evening as people are done with classes.
Parking on Fredonia would be a nightmare for anyone who isn’t good with parallel parking because that is the only way to park on it with this being the housing for a large portion of the students on campus. The downside to parking on Fredonia is that it is pretty far from almost all of the buildings on campus compared to the other spots.
Talking to students about parking on Fredonia we learned that during the busy hours of the day, it might take a couple of laps down the street to find a spot that isn’t a tight squeeze because of the students using the free parking instead of risking a ticket at the other parking lots.
Renaissance Coliseum (RENCO) Parking Deck
The RENCO parking deck is a four-story parking structure located next to the Renaissance Coliseum Athletic Center. This deck has hundreds of parking spots available for students and staff and is open 24 hours a day. There is one main entrance and two exits that are very easy to access for people. Also, there are two flights of stairs and two elevators to take people to the different levels to access their vehicles.
The only flaw with this parking deck is that there is a parking pass that you need to purchase for your vehicle to get 24-hour access without the risk of getting a ticket. The main entrance is always open for anyone to park there so the general public and students without a pass can still access it but they are at risk of getting a ticket in the morning.
We tracked the amount of cars that were in this parking deck at three different times throughout the day. These times showed that the deck fills up more during the middle of the day because of the increase of people coming to campus for work or class. The good thing that we found out from this research is that it never got close to full. There is always space available for people to park.
When asked about using the RENCO parking deck, Bradley student Anthoney Potthoff said “I mainly use this parking deck for athletic events that take place at RENCO. It’s right next to the athletic facility and is always open to park there”. This deck is the most accessible parking for the general public because it is always open, there are a large number of parking spaces, and guests who come to campus for events are not at risk of getting a ticket during those times.
Bookstore Parking Facing Olin Quad
The parking outside of the bookstore facing Olin Quad is a very popular spot for students to park. The location of this spot is what makes it so special. With this lot being right by multiple dorms and close to many of the academic buildings it is almost always packed throughout the day. After checking multiple times a day for about a week it is safe to say that this is one of the most desired parking spots on campus.
This parking does come with a potential risk. The parking spots require a parking pass, and the tickets are handed out for using these spots without the pass. After talking to some students who use this lot frequently this seems to be the only problem with it.
The lot itself is just about identical to the parking spots outside of the Student Center with freshly painted lines that help you clearly see the spots. The spots are also relatively large and the way the lot works is one way so they use diagonal parking spots making it easy to pull in and out.
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