LBCC’s parking structure is unsafe for the students and staff that utilize it and LBCC has not taken enough safety measures to better control the flow of traffic in this area.
From 2018-2022 (2021 has been omitted due to campus closure during COVID-19) eight accidents were reported in the structure alone according to the Long Beach Police Department.
Within this time frame, three accidents occurred in the G and H parking lots behind the C and D building and four accidents occurred in the Veterans Stadium Parking lot (one took place during a motorcycle meet).
There are less accidents in the three parking lots mentioned combined than in the J structure.
When the parking structure on campus gets congested, it becomes increasingly dangerous, with cars rushing down the structure, turning through blind narrow corners that can hardly fit two cars.
Not to mention, students are forced to walk through the crowded narrow roadways since there are no sidewalks, crosswalks, or safe ways to the staircases that lead to the exit of the structure.
The floor of the parking structure reads “SLOW” yet there is nothing implemented within the parking structure to encourage this.
There are several low cost solutions available that the school could add to make the parking situation safer for those attending LBCC.
Safetysign.com offers four different solutions to make parking lots safer. Those being: controlling the flow of traffic, designated parking areas (the structure already has this), control speed, and creating safe sidewalks.
To better control the speed of traffic, adding speed bumps at the turns going up the narrow driveway will force drivers to slow down and remain vigilant at blind corners.
Speed bumps can be purchased for as little as $80 each and the installation process can be easily done in a day.
Flexible delineators which go for under $40 dollars each on most websites are also a great way to divide the traffic at narrow turns to avoid head on collisions and prevent people from making turns that are too wide.
Some of the staircases students take to exit the structure lead directly to the structure’s car entrances and exits which doesn’t allow for students to exit the parking structure safely.
Students have to cross this to get on campus with no signage, designated crosswalks, or traffic spikes to slow down drivers at the entrance.
On each floor there are two different lanes you can take and at the moment none of them have a controlled flow. At the end of these lanes there are no stop signs or any other signs that warn you to merge and the traffic is expected to converge when reaching the next level.
The school plans to conduct a safety audit sometime soon which the parking lots and structure will be a part of.
LBCC has recently updated their budget which now sits at $163 million.
A project to add signage, speed bumps, and lane dividers would drastically make the parking lot safer and would not cost more than $50,000.
For a school that claims to put their students first, the safety of the students should be one of their top priorities. $50,000 out of the schools budget is a minor sacrifice to prevent harm from happening on campus and possible lawsuits.