In order to address current parking challenges and plan for future growth, the South Orange County Community College District (SOCCCD) needed a comprehensive parking study for its two campuses, Saddleback College and Irvine Valley College, as well as the Advanced Technology and Education Park.
Watry Design, Inc. was hired to identify parking issues at each campus, provide recommendations for parking management strategies and create a tool to allow the District to project the amount of parking needed as each campus continues to grow with increases in student enrollment and new facilities.
When parking data collected identified that current parking inventory at both Saddleback and Irvine Valley Colleges was at or beyond capacity, the Watry Design team that also included Fehr and Peers prepared several solutions designed to improve parking at each campus and calculate projected parking needs to accommodate development for the District's Master Plan and future growth.
Each of these solutions were then categorized according to their projected cost and impact.
Recommendations included:
- Incorporating parking guidance systems to reduce congestion caused by students and visitors circulating the most convenient lots looking for a space by directing them to lots with available capacity.
- Consolidating staff and faculty parking into distinct areas to maintain sufficient parking and discourage students from parking in faculty stalls.
- Constructing an eastern outer loop road at Saddleback College to separate pedestrians and vehicular traffic, which would reduce congestion and create easy access for a future parking structure.
- Improvements to pedestrian infrastructure, including signage, pathways and sidewalks to decrease pedestrian and vehicular conflicts.
- Improving traffic flow by relocating existing parking lot entries and exits, relocating a roundabout at Irvine Center College and reconfiguring key intersections to ease congestion.
- Constructing a parking structure at both Saddleback College and Irvine Valley College to address current shortages and increasing enrollment. Watry Design made site recommendations and cost estimations for each campus.
Project Details
- Owner: South Orange County Community College District
- Project Status: Completed 2016
