Parking continues to be a problem at Timpview. Unfortunately with the ongoing construction, many students and teachers still have trouble with parking. Some students don’t have to worry about it much because they were able to secure a parking pass, while others struggle to find a spot daily. Lately, the debate has been that there are too many parking passes, and not enough spots.
At the beginning of the year, Timpivew has given around 200 passes to seniors who applied, and some lucky juniors. Since then, 150 passes have been released to anyone on the waiting list. It was confirmed with Assistant Principal Thomas Fell in an interview that about 350 total passes have been released.
The new parking lot is now open! It opened today (October 7, 2024). It is located on the West side of the school. Many students have been frustrated because they aren’t able to find spots, arguing that they are giving out more passes than there is parking. In an interview with Mr. Fell, he said the reason for this is because no one has discovered that the new lot is open, causing there to be not enough parking in the upper lot. Three additional lots will be open in the spring, and more passes will be given out then. Until then, students and teachers will have to deal with the parking we have.
Frustrated junior, Biff Stone, did not secure a pass and remarked “So many other people got passes, even though I went on the very first day.” Like Biff, there are many students who are frustrated with the situation and continue to hope to get a pass.
On the other hand, students like Maeve Lewis are happy with the outcome of getting a pass. When asked the question “How did you feel once you secured a parking pass?” She responded, “I felt happy that I could get one, but frustrated for my peers.” She added, “Now that I have a pass, parking is easy!”
In addition to the information we already have, Mr. Fell said that they are taking new measures to ensure that people without passes aren’t parking in the lot, which includes towing cars. Timpview can now call “Lone Star Towing & Recovery” to tow you if you are parking somewhere you are not authorized.
As a Junior who recently acquired a parking pass, I would agree with everyone else that the situation is frustrating as a student. I didn’t have a parking pass for the first 2 months of school, so I personally know what it was like to leave for school 20 minutes early just to have time to park legally and walk to school. Now that I do have a pass, my life is much easier, but there are still issues.
I think it’s unfair that I personally went on the first day of registration to secure a pass and didn’t get a pass for 8 weeks. Some students claimed to be seniors and had passes for a while, but eventually got their passes taken away. They were given back before everyone else in line, even though they were supposed to be at the bottom of the list. There are better ways to hand out the passes, and if we are not going to be provided with parking I think we should be able to use the surrounding streets and roads for parking.
Recent laws state “(13) Within 10 feet of a mailbox between the hours of 6 a.m. and 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday, until January 1, 2030 on either side of the streets in the following areas:(a) The area bounded by 3950 North on the north, Timpview Drive on the east, 3050 North on the south, and 450 East on the west; (b) 3900 North east of Timpview Drive; (c) 3800 North and 3750 North east of Timpview Drive and all roads intersecting them; (d) Quail Valley Drive between Timpview Drive and Little Rock Drive, and all roads intersecting with it in that span; (e) 3230 North east of Timpview Drive; and (f) 3100 North east of Timpview Drive.”
These laws were released at the beginning of the year make it almost impossible to find parking outside of Timpview lots. If I don’t make it to school 20 mins early, I don’t find a spot and have even become late to class because of the issue. If Timpview is going to be under construction, they need to provide better solutions for the parking problem.
