Car park set to open on campus by early 2019

The University of Warwick has announced plans to open the new Kirby Corner Car Park by early 2019, which will feature around 1,300 spaces, wider parking bays and electric vehicle charging bays. Work will begin on this development this month.

During construction, the university promises that alternative parking facilities will be available to users, and that it will try to minimise disruption as much as possible.

There will also be a new, temporary car park, Westwood North Car Park, opening at the start of the summer term. This will offer around 150 spaces next to the Westwood Teaching Centre.

In autumn this year, the university also has plans for a long-term (though not permanent) car park behind Radcliffe Conference Centre, with around 450 spaces. It will be available for permit holders, flexipay users and pay and display users.

The news comes amidst the Coventry City Council announcing plans to spend nearly £13,000 on yellow lines to stop students and staff at the University of Warwick parking on the green verges of Kenilworth Road.

Students and staff are being threatened with tickets if they proceed to park on the road. Offenders could face fines of up to £1,000 and three penalty points if they are found to be parking in dangerous conditions. Although the lines will be on the road, the ban applies to the grass verges too.

Parking on campus is really far too expensive on a student budget

—  Sean Saw, first-year PPE

The council has previously pinned notices to windscreens to try to discourage the parking, but now believes it needs to take further action.

While the councils have described the parking as dangerous and damaging to council-owned land, the police have not been able to prosecute as there are no signs or yellow lines.

The problem on Kenilworth Road is mainly confined to a 100 metre stretch from the crest of Gibbet Hill on the Coventry-bound carriageway. However, the yellow lines will be stretch an extra mile on each side, from the Coventry border near Cryfield Grange Road to the A45 Fletchamstead Highway.

A council spokesman said: “We are currently in talks with our sub-contractor regarding the works and when they can be carried out. They will be done off-peak with lane closures, so the road will remain open to traffic.”

When asked by The Boar what he thought of student parking, first-year PPE student Sean Saw commented: “Parking on campus is really far too expensive on a student budget but I guess if you carpool and split the parking fee with friends it helps.

“I get that it’s supply and demand but parking isn’t just expensive, it’s also really hard to find spaces if you come at the wrong time.”