UConn is currently constructing a new 700-space surface parking lot on Discovery Drive in Storrs, directly across from the Innovation Partnership Building. The lot will open in summer 2019 and be known as K lot. It is the second new parking lot in that area: J lot – with approximately 150 spaces – opened in fall 2017.

These new lots are part of a plan for significant changes in parking arrangements for students, faculty, and staff in the north end of campus, starting next summer.

Construction of a new science building, a cornerstone of the Next Generation Connecticut program and hallmark of the 2015 Campus Master Plan, and of a new supplemental power plant will begin this coming summer in the Northwest Quad area. As a result, parking lots L, N, and X will be closed or greatly reduced in capacity prior to the 2019-20 academic year, leading to their eventual closure by the spring semester of 2020.

UConn’s Facilities Operations office is working on the logistics to recategorize what type of parking will take place in each lot in the north end of campus; and also how the bus system can best be used to transport faculty, staff, and students from parking lots to the campus core. Use of the bus system is expected to increase and become more commonplace.

“The UConn community has shown great understanding and cooperation with the impact of construction on our campus over time,” says Mike Jednak, associate vice president for facilities operations and building services. “This new construction will impact how people park and access campus, especially on the north end. Our goal is to make the new system, which will include bus transportation, an efficient one for all.”

A major benefit to the new parking lots on Discovery Drive will be a reduction of almost 1,000 cars entering the core of campus daily at the intersection of Discovery Drive and North Eagleville Road. This will help cut down on conflicts between vehicles and pedestrians; and the improved traffic circulation will make the bus system more efficient.