In an attempt to improve the gameday experience for fans, the city of Auburn and Auburn University have undertaken several projects that will enhance Auburn's parking facilities.
Auburn's lack of sufficient downtown parking was identified as a priority during an annual Citizen Survey in January 2012. The improvements were approved by citizens in the January 2012 Five Mill Referendum.
Renovation of a temporary parking lot located on Gay Street represents the first stage of Auburn's downtown parking improvement project.
The project, scheduled to be completed in August, will see a 17 percent increase in total downtown parking.
"The downtown parking project will add 75 parking spaces to the available 'free' parking inventory on gamedays," said Auburn City Councilman Ron Anders in an email. "This will provide a venue for gameday-related entertainment activities such as AUtumn Nights held on Friday evenings before select home games."
Last year, Magnolia Avenue and College Street were closed for the duration of AUtumn Nights events. The movement of the entertainment venue is expected to alleviate much of the traffic caused by the closure of downtown streets during events.
Another issue the University is confronting is how to balance the parking needs of on-campus students with the parking needs of fans in town for gameday.
"The problem right now is there's really no place to park for students as well as for gameday," said Don Andrae, manager of Auburn Parking Services. "What they're trying to do is increase the number of spaces on campus for people to park, still provide a good gameday experience and not displace students."
Being discussed are plans to convert the fenced-in areas of the hayfield lot from student overflow parking to public parking, creating tent and tailgate parking areas on the intramural fields and the addition of public parking in a vacant Samford Avenue lot.
Students living in the Hill dormitories and the new South Donahue Residence Hall are not expected to be affected by any parking changes.
Layne Lavett, a Birmingham native and Auburn graduate from the class of 1986, said parking has been a problem since her days as a student.
"When I was a student, we never had to move our cars," Lavett said. "We also were able to park closer to the stadium and had more parking spaces to choose from."
As a fan who regularly travels to Auburn for gameday, Lavett said downtown parking has become even more hectic in recent years.
"It's really hard to find anywhere to park on gameday," Lavett said. "It's a small town even with all the students already there, and when a larger group comes in on the same day, it really makes things tough."
Cars parked on the sidewalk of Gay and other major Auburn streets have become symbolic of Auburn's parking troubles as fans pounce on any available space to leave their car. Andrae hopes the University's work with AAA Parking, a parking management company, can improve Auburn's parking situation and create a better gameday environment for fans and students.
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