The South Campus and Health Sciences District (the District) is a combination of the South Campus area and the Health Sciences area. The boundaries established for the District and these areas by The Ohio State University (OSU) are illustrated in MAP 1: District Boundaries.
The two areas within the District have different, and sometimes competing, parking needs. The South Campus area consists primarily of student residence halls and academic buildings, with recreational and parking areas clustered on the southern edge. The Health Sciences area consists of the University Medical Center, a major cancer hospital, and other health sciences medical and research uses. Health Sciences draws hundreds of thousands of patients and visitors annually to its dense and congested collection of buildings.
The District is located between the academic core of the University and the residential and commercial areas south and east of the main campus. While the Health Sciences portion is dense and congested due to intense land use, high employment, and concentrated patients and visitors, the South Campus area is just beginning to develop to its full potential.
The Ohio State University (OSU) selected the Consultant Team of CHANCE Management Advisors, Inc., Gorove/Slade Associates, Inc. and Timothy Haahs & Associates, Inc. to address transportation and parking issues for the South Campus and Health Sciences District. OSU requested this study based on recommendations contained in the Transportation and Parking Plan (T&P Plan), as well as recommendations found in the South Campus District Plan (SCDP) that was part of the Campus Master Plan. The T&P Plan recommended that OSU add 1,500 net new parking spaces in the District, to be distributed throughout several parking garages. The potential sites for parking garages were also addressed in the SCDP. However, because of the sensitive needs of the District and its proximity to the residential areas immediately adjacent to campus, the T&P Plan recommended further study of parking, transportation, and access issues. This project’s objectives are to accomplish the more detailed analysis and provide the following:
The project began with the Consultant Team reviewing existing studies and data from the Department of Transportation and Parking (T&P), the various plans, and information from constituency groups. Interviews were held with a wide variety of individuals knowledgeable about and concerned with the parking, circulation, and access issues in the District. Individuals interviewed by the Consultant Team included Health Sciences administrators, the Deans of the Colleges of Nursing, Dentistry, and Optometry; faculty members and Senate leaders, student leaders, and community representatives including Campus Partners and City officials. These interviews, which are documented in more detail in Section III and APPENDIX A, helped to identify changes that are affecting parking and circulation now, as well as plans that will continue to affect parking in the future.
The focus of this report is the identification customer needs and the sites for the construction of replacement and additional parking in garages. Even with continued study and heightened efforts in demand management and use of alternative modes of transportation, it will still be necessary to construct garages in order to provide adequate access to the District addressed in this project. The location of parking facilities to serve the campus population and its visitors is as important as the location of any other building on campus. With the volume of new construction so high on campus, it is critical that sites be earmarked for parking garages whether or not they can be built immediately. Since T&P operates as an auxiliary, construction of new facilities hinges on increases in parking rates. The campus population wants new facilities, but increased rates are never popular.
Therefore, it is difficult for the Department to schedule financing unless rates may also be adjusted responsively. This report will identify desirable garage sites and the rationale for their selection, taking into consideration that T&P may have to stage the construction based upon the ability to fund the projects.
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