OXFORD, Miss. – Cleaner curbs with new perpendicular parking stripes
painted beside them might cause drivers along Sorority Row at the
University of Mississippi to do a double take. This development is a
part of a campuswide project by the Physical Plant Department to
eliminate yellow curbs and reduce maintenance cost.
The Ole Miss campus has some 15 miles of yellow-painted curbing, said Ashton Pearson, associate director of PPD.
“The university spends a considerable amount each year to touch up the
yellow curbing to keep it eye-appealing,” he said. “Much of the yellow
paint has become unsightly by being cracked, peeled or blistered from
multiple coats (of paint) being applied throughout the years.”
Rather than continue to maintain painted curbs, the decision was made to clean the curbs and paint yellow and white lines perpendicular to them to signify parking regulations.
Physical plant workers are in the process of sandblasting all curbs on campus to return them to their original condition, a decision that was made last summer after initial testing. Approximately 24,000 feet of the curbing has been blasted, and eventually curbs inside parking lots will be cleaned, as well.
A single yellow line painted on the street indicates a no-parking zone, said Linda Christian, parking services manager for University Police Department. In areas where a yellow line is painted directly beside a white line, parking is allowed adjacent to the white line. However, if a person were to park over the yellow line, they would be subject to ticketing.
If a driver parks in an area where there is no white line, he or she is parked illegally, she said.
“Ticket fines will vary somewhat depending on the violation,” she said. “If a car is just improperly parked because it is parked beyond the yellow line or in an area not marked for parking, the fine is $25, but if a car is parked blocking or obstructing a fire hydrant or crosswalk, the ticket is $50.”
The entire sandblasting process should be finished by this summer, Pearson said. “These changes will present a campus with a more pristine appearance,” he said.
For more information on parking regulations at UM, click here.