With March Madness recently taking over Reynolds Coliseum, NC State students faced parking issues and traffic delays causing class disruptions, highlighting the challenges of hosting major sporting events on campus.
The NC State Women’s basketball team hosted games in Reynolds Coliseum March 22 and March 24. Parking for Monday’s noon game opened at 11 a.m., causing a rush of spectators into the Coliseum Parking Deck as students attempted to park ahead of their classes.
Abigail Giambalvo, a second-year studying biological sciences, was one of the students who experienced parking difficulties March 24. Giambalvo typically commutes to campus via WolfLine, but with heavy traffic surrounding Reynolds Coliseum, she had to get off her stop early and walk to class.
“I got there at noon instead of 11:45 a.m. because I got off at a stop that wasn’t too close, but I just walked the rest of the way because there was no way I was gonna get the whole time,” Giambalvo said.
After arriving in class, Giambalvo said her professor never showed up to class after sending out an email they would arrive late due to traffic.
Brandon Monarca, a fourth-year studying economics, also experienced parking troubles. As a student who commutes by car to campus, he said every parking spot in Coliseum Deck was taken.
After circling campus for several minutes, Monarca said he was late to class after he had to park in a random spot on campus and hoped he would not receive a ticket.
“It’s whenever we have events, it’s always 10 times harder for me to commute,” Monarca said. “One, I don’t know sometimes events are even happening, so then traffic, I’m like, ‘Oh, I didn’t expect this traffic to be here.’ So it’s always like a coin toss if there’s gonna be traffic or not, because I don’t know if there are events.”
Demar Bonnemere, communications manager for NC State Transportation, said the department was notified the day before the scheduled game and had little to no say about parking.
“We did not find out until very late Sunday what time the game was going to be on Monday,” Bonnemere said. “Then there are various times that they have slotted for and we didn’t know until that Sunday if we were going to be at 12, 2 p.m. or 4 p.m. … So we have no control over the schedule and the timing.”
Bonnemere said the game schedule is dictated by the NCAA during March Madness. Therefore, the transportation department’s scheduling for events gets overridden by the announcement of brackets and host schools.
Even with short notice, Bonnemere said the transportation department did everything it could to notify students, along with an email to expect game delays.
“So when we find out that information, we’re trying to balance the needs of the students and faculty and staff that are parking on campus as well as the needs for the event,” Bonnemere said.
Although students were affected by the influx of traffic, faculty also had trouble arriving on campus. Giambalvo said on their short commute to campus, she encountered a professor also taking the WolfLine.
“There was a teacher taking the bus that was on the same bus as me, because he takes the same route and he got there until super late too,” Giambalvo said. “So you know what? I don’t even know why we still bother being open.”
Giambalvo said the University cannot expect to have both students and a large event on campus on the same day. She said it is not fair to students who have to deal with the added stress of missing class.
“I had to just have the headache of getting through here and hoping maybe I’ll get to class on time,” Giambalvo said. “I just don’t think that it’s worth it for the students to have to come and deal with all this when we’re going to be late.”
Bonnemere said the department hears the student concerns.
“The biggest thing is, it was just the timing,” Bonnemere said. “That was the X-factor there that we have no control over. So again, we appreciate and we want that feedback. We hear everything that’s said to us, and we definitely take that into consideration when we are planning moving forward.”
