On Monday, Aug. 25, Quinnipiac University’s fall semester officially began, and a shortage of parking spaces in the North Lot and Harwood Gate parking lots left many to be redirected.

When commuter students and residents from the York Hill campus arrived in the North Lot, many circled the area several times before finding a space. Depending on arrival time, if both the North Lot and Harwood Lot were filled, students, faculty and visitors were directed by Public Safety to the grass near Harwood Lot.

With construction projects taking place and limited options for students, parking locations are affected and decreased.

As part of the Mt. Carmel campus remodel, construction for the new bookstore, which will sit between The DOME and the North Lot, causes traffic back ups in the parking lot.

Once students are sophomores, they can apply for a parking permit. Based on their number of credits they are permitted to park in select locations. Several lots are reserved for faculty only.

By 11:00 a.m., there were nearly four rows of cars on the grass of the Harwood Gate entrance, which has previously been used as an overflow parking location.

“We use the grassy area near the Hardwood gate as overflow parking from time to time, usually for special events,” Chief of Public Safety Tony Reyes wrote in an email to The Chronicle.

Some were also directed to park in Hogan Lot, a further distance from academic buildings than the North lot.

While often using the Hogan, Westwood and Whitney lot for event purposes, the Harwood space is also used in an effort to limit any disturbance.

“However, there are times we elect to use the grassy area for strategic reasons,” Reyes wrote. “Our goal is to minimize disruption to our internal community and to make access convenient for our guests/visitors whenever possible.”