The university is looking to purchase property off-campus for a temporary lot while the Creason parking lot expansion is completed. 

The purchase, located at 1840 Russellville Road, will be finalized at Friday’s Board of Regents quarterly meeting, and could add an additional 125 to 150 off-campus parking spots for students. 

Estimated total cost for the project is $375,000, which includes construction of the parking lot, bus stop area and lighting, according to the Board of Regents agenda.

Final purchasing costs are estimated at $340,000 plus closing costs, and a contract has already been secured. 

Brad Wheeler, assistant vice president of resources management, helped with finalizing the acquisition.

“I think it’ll be a good long-term location for campus and for students, and provide needed assistance,” he said. “We want to provide parking and address student needs, and this lot is one of the ways we address that.”

A Parking and Transportation survey from October 2014 indicated 45 percent of students surveyed suggested Russellville and Morgantown roads as places for off-campus or “satellite” parking.

Chief Facilities Officer Bryan Russell said his department conducted a short analysis about the property, but the 1.3 acres haven’t been engineered formally yet. He said there could be room for more than the 125 estimated lots.

The agenda noted that construction of a new parking structure at Creason would “in the short-term” decrease available parking spots.

Wheeler called the lot an “investment” for WKU.

“It can provide parking for those displaced by events on campus by bringing a bus route from there into the main line while a parking lot is built to supply that parking,” he said. 

The university already budgeted and allocated the funds for the lot’s purchase, Wheeler said. The money came from PTS’s operating budget and carry-forward funding, and it doesn’t include the $30 fee proposed and approved by the Student Government Administration. 

The Russellville property comes after the university announced plans to create a new parking structure over the preexisting Creason lot, which currently serves as an “all permits zone,” according to PTS. 

Friday’s Board meeting will also include Board approval of the SGA’s $30 fee to pay for the Creason lot parking structure.