Parking lot 4 at Foothill College is closed and will be unavailable for parking until the 2013 winter quarter. 

Closing parking lot 4 marks the beginning of the first phase of construction of the new Physical Sciences and Engineering Complex, which is being built where the Veterinary Technology and Environmental Horticulture Building once existed.

Foothill expects the lot and new building to open winter quarter 2013. Until then, students should be aware of limited parking spaces and allocate time efficiently to find parking.

Parking lot 4 will leave 52 parking spaces for the Krause Center for Innovation and the campus observatory, with two spaces available for the print shop. The reserved spaces for the print shop will be available for a maximum of 20 minutes, while the spaces reserved for the KCI will require a permit acquired through the KCI. Walk-in access to the softball and soccer field will remain open during construction. 

“Parking lot 4 closing will definitely be inconvenient to the students who go to Foothill. There is already a crisis every time a lot of students need to find parking and closing one of the parking lots would just add to the problem,” said theater technology major Sean Hobbes.

One way Foothill is trying to accommodate this problem is adding a carpool system called Zimride. The program allows students to input their addresses and act as public transit. 

Economics major and member of the student government Jason Ma said that the parking lot would only be closed temporarily and that the renovations in the cross center will not be interrupted. 

Since parking lot 4 contains approximately 400 spots, its closure will be problematic for students. Foothill’s one way streets mean that students will have to circle campus several times in search of parking.

To reduce the amount of traffic delays and frustrations, students can also carpool. They can use their own carpooling program or Zimride, organized by Associated Students of Foothill College. This program provides an easy method in which students, faculty and staff can find other friends, classmates and coworkers who share a common route. 

More information about parking in Lot 4 will be posted online at www.foothill.edu/news/construction.php.

You can sign up or learn more about carpooling at www.zimride.foothill.edu.