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Two new parking lots are being added to the Corvallis campus at Oregon State University, and will bring a total of 118 new parking spaces to the south and west sides of campus.

The new East LaSells Stewart Center Lot along Western Boulevard is scheduled to open later this fall. It will be designated as a B2 lot with 38 new parking spaces for those with A1, A2, A3, and B2 permits. The new lot replaces spots that will be displaced by the upcoming Valley Football Center/North End Zone building project.

"These new parking lots ensure the parking spaces on campus are increasing to accommodate the increased demands of new building construction," said David Dodson, campus planning manager at OSU.

The new Energy Center South Lot along 35^th Street is also scheduled to open later this fall, and brings 80 new parking spaces. This lot will be zoned CR for CR permit holders only (for students living in residence halls). It was built to replace parking displaced by the Samaritan Sports Medicine Center.

"One out of every five students living on campus brings an automobile to school, as most choose to walk or ride their bike," Dodson said. "These residential permit lots serve as vehicle storage areas and can be sited on the perimeter instead of the core of campus."

Demolition of an old poultry barn was required to construct the Energy Center South Lot, and it uses an existing access alley built during the project. About 96,000 cubic feet of good topsoil was salvaged and stockpiled near the site. Much of that will be used to create a pocket park on Washington Avenue and 15^thStreet. The center of the lot features a sand filtration swale to meet storm water quality and detention requirements, by treating the polluted runoff water before it is piped to nearby Oak Creek.

 "It is great to see that new construction projects are replacing campus parking that is being converted to other uses," said Meredith Williams, associate director for transportation services at OSU.