Kyle Field parking: Residents to pay special parking in their own neighborhood

Street parking in neighborhoods near Kyle Field will cost $25 — even for residents who may not be going to the events.

• The City of College Station is rolling out a pilot paid parking program for two big events happening at Kyle field this month — the Mexico vs. Brazil soccer match on Saturday, and the George Strait concert June 15.
• The area includes neighborhoods from Wellborn Road to Texas Avenue, and George Bush Drive to Holleman.
• The Southside Historic Neighborhood is the oldest neighborhood in the city which means many homes have smaller driveways, forcing residents to park on the street.
• If the program goes well for these two events, the city will implement it for home games as well.

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“We originally bought it to come up on weekends for game days, and, you know, you'd call it a game day house," Fred Dupriest said.

When Dupriest was looking for a game-day house in College Station 12 years ago, he hit the jackpot.

"The street is just so entertaining — it's cars up and down everywhere," he said.

"It's literally thousands of people walking up together, with friends, chatting, talking, and just having a great time.”

It’s that atmosphere of people parking in their neighborhood and walking across the street to Kyle Field, that Fred says the city’s new paid parking initiative will endanger.

“That seems to be about the most unfriendly thing we could do," Dupriest said.

The City of College Station is rolling out a pilot paid parking program for two big events happening at Kyle field this month — the Mexico vs. Brazil soccer match on Saturday, and the George Strait concert on June 15.

Street parking in nearby neighborhoods will cost $25 — even for residents who may not be going to the events.

"I had another young lady tell me, she said, 'We have a very short driveway — we can only put two people in our driveway, and there's four of us in the house'," Linda Harvell said.

Harvell is the councilwoman for Place 3, and also lives in the Southside Historic neighborhood — she was the only council member to vote against this program.

“It's no surprise that the city is implementing this, but residents shouldn't have to pay," she said.

"It doesn't make any difference if they're student renters or permanent homeowners — they should not have to pay to park in front of their house.”

The city says this is a pilot program and if it goes well, they will implement it for home games as well, but neighbors in the city’s oldest neighborhood say that’s just not the Aggie way.

"We want everybody to feel that this is our neighborhood, this city's neighborhood," Dupriest said.

"It belongs to all of us — it's the historic district. That's what it's here for.”