If you are someone who has ever parked or been dropped off in the Shima 1 parking lot, chances are you have either accidently hit a pothole or had to make a significant swerve in order to avoid one.
“My general opinion is I hate them and they should be fixed. It’s kind of dangerous. You have to drive around them and if there’s oncoming traffic you can possibly hit somebody and it’ll destroy your tires if you’re going any faster than like 10 miles an hour,” said student Emily Bauer.
Within an approximate measurement of 200 by 25 feet, there are more than 20 potholes within the driving lane of the Shima 1 parking lot. Some of the potholes are smaller, whereas others were up to 4 inches deep.
The two largest pot holes in the Shima 1 parking lot drive lane were about 44 by 36 by 4 inches and 48 by 44 by 4 inches.
The size of these potholes pose a risk to drivers who may not know or may forget that these potholes are there, which could create potential damages to their vehicles.
“Imagine the damages. You know we don’t want to be paying extra, especially for in college having to pay off, you know, the classes and stuff. I just spent 700 dollars on tires. I don’t want to have to add on to that,” said student Jonas Fanto.
Fanto typically parks in the SCMA parking lot, and was parking in Shima 1 while getting an ID card from the ASDC office. He noted that the parking lot he is used to is more evenly paved compared to the potholes of Shima.
This was an observation also made by student Alondra Garcia.
“I usually park in Shima, but I do park in the other places, but I don’t notice as many potholes as though,” said Garcia.
In terms of potholes, the parking lot which boasts the second most is Budd 1. Within an approximate measurement of 200 by 25 feet, four potholes were counted.
The two largest potholes in the Budd 1 drive lane measure about 58 by 44 by 2 inches and 50 by 28 by 3 inches.
Other parking lots on campus have cracking and uneven pavements, but do not have any notable potholes that could be a potential danger for drivers and pedestrians.
Fanto and Bauer both felt that the potholes could be due to the amount of traction that the Shima building and parking lot get throughout the week.
“I think that over the years the just the driving has just worn down all of the parking and it’s just like I don’t think that it’s really going to be fixed unless it’s addressed,” said Bauer.
The problem is that repairs and replacement costs money, which would come from district funds. Previously parking lot maintenance would be supplemented by parking permit fees, but with Delta not charging for parking, this revenue is not coming in.
“In the past, revenue from parking permits has been used to maintain the parking lots as well as fund improvements for the Police Department (for example, purchasing vehicles that were needed to patrol campus). Delta College has not charged for parking permits since the COVID-19 pandemic began, which means money to maintain parking lots has been limited. We certainly understand that potholes are a concern and the administration is working on options to address this issue, but no final decision has been announced,” said Director of Marketing and Communications Alex Breitler.
Though charging for parking would add to the expenses of students and staff on campus, if it were a low cost it could be seen as a fair trade for improved parking lots and safer driving conditions.
“I know previously they did do that parking fee thing back in like 2018, 2019, and then during 2020 they stopped it because it was expensive and things were inflating. I think that that would, as long as it’s not overpriced, the parking, that it would be a good idea if they took that money and put it into the potholes,” said Bauer.