Edited for clarification on 3/10 at 11:15 a.m.
Hearing students’ concerns and complaints about parking, Bowling Green State University (BGSU) plans to expand two parking lots.
Lot 8, a commuter parking lot behind Falcon Heights, will add about 100 parking spots. Lot 8 will increase to about 430 parking spaces. Lot 12, a residential parking lot near the Perry Field House, will add 126 parking spots. Lot 12 will increase to about 316 parking spaces. This project will begin in May 2026, according to the university.
BGSU Parking Services declined to comment.
Undergraduate Student Government (USG) President Tiago Gaboardi said USG played a role in the plans for expansion with a resolution.
“USG gathered student feedback, discussed parking challenges in senate meetings and elevated concerns directly to university leadership. These shared concerns compelled the leadership to seek action and plan the parking lot expansions,” said Gaboardi. “Important to mention that the expansion is not based on one factor, such as USG shared concerns, but rather parking services has a holistic approach, taking finances, viability and strategic assessment in their decision making.”
Gaboardi said he believes that Lot 12 and Lot 8 were chosen because of high-demand of students.
“Both lots serve high-demand populations. Lot 8 primarily supports commuters, and Lot 12 supports residential students. The expansions are intended to address usage pressures and better match parking supply with campus growth,” Gaboardi said.
Gaboardi said students will be happy with these new parking spots.
“Many students, particularly commuters and residential students in high-demand areas, will likely feel relief and see this as a positive response to capacity concerns,“ Gaboardi said.
Adrian Vasicek, a junior majoring in actuarial science, said the expansion is a good thing for students.
“It’s good that they’re expanding the lots, because they sold way too many parking passes, and I think that it’s important for commuters to be able to have a reasonable walk to their classes,” Vasicek said.
Elias Young, a senator for off-campus and commuting students at USG, wrote the resolution for improving parking at BGSU, which started early.
“I think that it really started with our first meeting in the fall. I was pretty adamant on tackling the issue as early as I took office. We wanted to get to work on this right away,” Young said.
Young said students will be excited about this expansion.
“I think they’re gonna be thrilled when they hear the news of new parking lots, and I think a lot of people are already hearing it; that there’s gonna be 300 new parking spaces,” Young said.
