Special Parking and Towing Issue
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VOLUME 17, NUMBER 8
AUGUST, 1970
DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA
Aug. 10 Crackdown
Illegally Parked Cars To Be Towed
In the interest of greater fire
safety for the Medical Center and
its employes, and in a move to cut
down on traffic congestion on
streets throughout the Medical
Center complex, a new parking
regulation calling for towing of
illegally parked vehicles will go into
effect Aug. 10.
This means that on that date and
after, any vehicle illegally parked
on streets or in other areas painted
yellow (the areas shaded on the
map on Page 3) will be subject to
being towed away by a commercial
towing company at the vehicle
owner's expense.
Here's the way it will work:
If a car is parked in a yellow
zone, a University security officer
will call a towing garage to come
get the car.
Persons whose cars have been
towed will be able to find out
where their car is by calling the
security of f ice —E xtension
2444—where a record of towing
violations will be maintained.
The towing fee, which will be set
by the garage, is expected to be
$10. Collection will be by the
garage from the vehicle owner. The
University will receive none of the
towing fee.
A full-scale enforcement of all
other traffic and parking
regulations also will be pressed.
Fire safety is the primary reason
for the renewed enforcement
decision and the towing regulation.
At least twice in recent months,
the Durham Fire Department has
had difficulty getting its equipment
close enough to the Medical Center
to combat fires most effectively.
Because of the size of fire-fighting
equipment, it cannot be
maneuvered through the relatively
small driving spaces left when cars
are parked in yellow zones.
Perhaps the most pointed
example of this occurred on Feb.
27 when a fire was discovered in
the attic of the Davison Building.
An aerial truck was required to give
firemen access to the high,
fifth-floor area, but valuable time
was lost because employes' cars
were parked in yellow, no-parking
zones behind the Medical Center
and* the truck could not
immediately get through.
The delay could have meant
disaster had not a group of
quick-thinking Duke maintenance
men formed themselves into a fire
brigade and fought the fire from
(continued on page two)
Pay Parking Lot Opening Soon
For Medical Center Employes
One of the Medical Center's
parking lots is being converted to a
pay, gated lot for the convenience
of Medical Center personnel who
want a guaranteed parking spot.
The approximately 350-space
parking lot, sometimes called the
ravine lot, lies behind the Bell
Building and extends to Science
Drive near Medical Science I. (It is
the lot labeled Gate Parking on the
map on Page 3.)
It will become a gated, pay lot
on Aug. 10.
The gates will operate somewhat
similarly to those on the Visitors'
Lot, except that instead of pulling a
ticket out of the machine to get the
arm to raise and let the vehicle
enter the lot, the driver will insert a
special plastic card into a slot on
the machine to make the arm raise.
As soon as the vehicle clears the
entrance, the gate arm will come
down and wait for the next vehicle,
and the next card.
The special gate parking cards
may be purchased now by Medical
Center personnel from the office of
Medical Center Engineer L.T.
Matthews at 0570 Clinicial
Research II. The telephone
extension is 4004.
Permits currently are being sold
for the period between now and
Feb. 15 for $20. Permits will be
renewable thereafter by Feb. 15 of
each year.
The Feb. 15 date was chosen to
(continued cn page two)