Campus Life

'Midnight Clear' for snow removal declared for this weekend

A snow plow clears streets on Penn State's University Park campus. Credit: Penn State. Creative Commons

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — With winter weather predicted for Saturday, Jan. 18, a "Midnight Clear" has been declared for overnight hours this weekend at Penn State's University Park campus. As a result, parking will be prohibited from midnight through 7 a.m. tonight, Saturday night, and Sunday night at all faculty/staff surface parking lots on campus, including Innovation Park. This restriction includes University vehicles and applies to all employee work shifts, regardless of reporting time.

The roof levels of all four campus parking decks — East, Eisenhower, HUB and Nittany — will be closed this weekend beginning at 3 p.m. Friday. All vehicles parked on roof levels today must be removed by midnight tonight.

Designated overnight parking areas — faculty/staff and department vehicles

Departments with University vehicles, as well as any faculty or staff with vehicles remaining on campus overnight, are required to move them into one of the parking decks or designated overnight parking areas before midnight when a "Midnight Clear" is announced.

Overnight parking for faculty, staff, and departmental vehicles will be available through 7:30 a.m. the next morning at the following locations:

1. All campus parking decks (East, Eisenhower, HUB, Nittany) — no parking on the roof level.

The Nittany Deck can accommodate vehicles with a maximum height of 6 feet 8 inches, while the Eisenhower and HUB decks will allow vehicles with a maximum height of 7 feet.

The ground floor of the East Deck will accommodate vehicles up to 8 feet 2 inches in height. The east bay (the section closest to Bigler Road) on the ground floor of the East Deck is reserved for oversized vehicles that do not fit in the other garages on campus. Vehicles that normally have to remain in one of the approved surface areas because of roof racks, truck caps, etc., may be parked in this area of the East Deck.

Signs will be posted in the East Deck reserving the east bay (closest to East Halls) for oversized vehicles. Once the signs are posted, regular vehicles (less than 7 feet maximum height) are prohibited from the reserved area and must park in another section of the deck.

2. Lot Red A — westernmost row of spaces located behind the Earth and Engineering Sciences Building.

3. Lot Orange H — two sections of parking located on the south side of Hastings Road (just east of University Drive and near student Lot 83).

4. Lot Orange A (Katz Building) — 10 spaces facing Services Road along the north side of the parking lot.

5. Lot Orange U — 10 spaces facing N. University Dr. in southeast corner of the lot near USB II.

6. Areas with fenced parking compounds, such as Fleet Operations, Bryce Jordan Center, Physical Plant.

7. All farm areas.

Lots restricted until 3 a.m.

The following campus lots will be restricted for snow removal from midnight through 3 a.m. when a "Midnight Clear" is declared:

1. Lot Red A — west of Atherton Street.

2. Lot Orange U — section located west of USB I and north of the driveway.

3. Lot Orange O — section next to the Tower Road Landscape Facility.

Employees with a valid faculty/staff permit who must report to work early may park in these areas beginning at 3 a.m.

Parking at Innovation Park

Overnight parking at Innovation Park will be available during a "Midnight Clear" at the following locations:

1. 100 Building (Outreach Building) — back row of spaces in the southwest corner.

2. 328/330 Building — first section of parking on the left from the entrance from Innovation Boulevard.

3. 329 Building — first row of spaces in the section of parking located between Daybridge and 329.

4. 331 Building — back row of spaces in the northeast corner.

Oversized vehicles should be moved to one of the areas listed above. If it isn't possible to move to one of the designated overnight parking areas, special provisions can be made by calling the Parking Office at 814-865-1436 or sending an email to parking@psu.edu.

Commuter parking

Jordan East, Stadium West and Porter North are not "Midnight Clear" restricted lots. However, no parking is permitted at these lots from 2 a.m. to 4 a.m., seven days a week.

Any student Commuter permit holders parked on campus when a "Midnight Clear" is declared must move their vehicles from surface parking lots before midnight, and from campus parking decks before 2 a.m.

Resident and long-term storage student parking

Resident core and long-term storage student parking lots (Blue 22, Blue 42, Blue 81, Blue 82, Blue 83, Brown 11, and Purple 43) are exempt from "Midnight Clear" restrictions and will remain available for student vehicles displaying a valid permit for these areas.

Student permit holders utilizing other parking areas during evening or weekend hours must return to their assigned lot before midnight when a "Midnight Clear" is declared.

While crews will provide snow removal and surface treatment in student parking areas, student permit holders are responsible for removing snow from on and around their vehicles.

Map and contact information

A map of approved "Midnight Clear" parking areas is available at map.psu.edu

If there are any questions related to campus parking this weekend, email parking@psu.edu or call 814-865-1436.

Last Updated January 21, 2020