2008 Woodie Awards
New entrance on campus soon to come
Meredith Tillery
Issue date: 9/2/08 Section: The News
As part of the new construction projects that are taking place on campus there will be a new entrance built on the west side of campus on La Prada beginning in December.
The new entrance will reduce congestion at the east entrance and allow easy access to the new Learning Center.
Parking is also a large concern for students and, according to Director of Facilities Services Arthur Sykes, the entrance will make students more aware of the parking in the W lots, which are rarely full.
"All the other community colleges have parking on only one side, and people forget that we are different," Grounds Supervisor James Martin said. "When we finish the new entrance, traffic will naturally flow to the W parking lots."
According to Martin, within 6 months of opening, the West entrance might possibly be the more dominant entrance. The entrance is predicted to be a straighter, shorter entrance but it is still in the design phase so nothing is set in stone.
For a short time the existing entrance will remain, but because the new entrance will cover part of the existing soccer fields, there will be an opportunity to relocate them later.
The entrance will also save the school money. "This [the new entrance] will save us money on the bus service from DART because Mesquite isn't part of DART and the new entrance will have the buses come in through the Dallas side," Sykes said.
Since the city of Mesquite is not one of the member cities that make up DART, Eastfield pays to have DART transportation on campus. And because the new entrance is actually going to be on the Dallas side of campus, that fee will no longer be charged to the school because the route will actually run through the Dallas side of the campus instead of the Mesquite side.
The City of Mesquite has had ample opportunity to be a participating DART city, but that would require a one cent sales tax increse.
"Mesquite does not participate in DART, and does not pay the one cent sales tax to be a member of DART," said Mark Ball, Media Representative for DART.
Thirteen cities make up Dallas Area Rapid Transit. Some cities decided to not participate and keep their sales tax low or they are using that one-cent opportunity in taxing to do other things, maybe to promote tourism or athletics events.
"Mesquite has been able for a number of years to take advantage of what DART has to offer because they are right there on DART's doorstep and right next to the city of Dallas where DART does participate," Ball said.
mctillery23@netmail.dcccd.edu
The new entrance will reduce congestion at the east entrance and allow easy access to the new Learning Center.
Parking is also a large concern for students and, according to Director of Facilities Services Arthur Sykes, the entrance will make students more aware of the parking in the W lots, which are rarely full.
"All the other community colleges have parking on only one side, and people forget that we are different," Grounds Supervisor James Martin said. "When we finish the new entrance, traffic will naturally flow to the W parking lots."
According to Martin, within 6 months of opening, the West entrance might possibly be the more dominant entrance. The entrance is predicted to be a straighter, shorter entrance but it is still in the design phase so nothing is set in stone.
For a short time the existing entrance will remain, but because the new entrance will cover part of the existing soccer fields, there will be an opportunity to relocate them later.
The entrance will also save the school money. "This [the new entrance] will save us money on the bus service from DART because Mesquite isn't part of DART and the new entrance will have the buses come in through the Dallas side," Sykes said.
Since the city of Mesquite is not one of the member cities that make up DART, Eastfield pays to have DART transportation on campus. And because the new entrance is actually going to be on the Dallas side of campus, that fee will no longer be charged to the school because the route will actually run through the Dallas side of the campus instead of the Mesquite side.
The City of Mesquite has had ample opportunity to be a participating DART city, but that would require a one cent sales tax increse.
"Mesquite does not participate in DART, and does not pay the one cent sales tax to be a member of DART," said Mark Ball, Media Representative for DART.
Thirteen cities make up Dallas Area Rapid Transit. Some cities decided to not participate and keep their sales tax low or they are using that one-cent opportunity in taxing to do other things, maybe to promote tourism or athletics events.
"Mesquite has been able for a number of years to take advantage of what DART has to offer because they are right there on DART's doorstep and right next to the city of Dallas where DART does participate," Ball said.
mctillery23@netmail.dcccd.edu
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