College of the Canyons will begin construction on its first parking structure in March, a project that will add 1,000 new spaces to the Valencia campus, and provide more parking options for students.

Starting Wednesday, March 7, Lot 7, the structure’s future location, will be unavailable until construction is complete.

To aid in the year-long transition, the college has unveiled its “Keep Calm and Park On” initiative to keep students and staff informed about parking options.

“We have developed several strategies to ensure that students still find the campus to be convenient and accessible during construction,” said Michael Wilding, assistant superintendent and vice president of Student Services at the college.

In addition to scheduling more classes at the Canyon Country campus and spreading course offerings throughout the day at the Valencia campus, the college will offer students new parking spaces, parking alternatives, and free parking.

Athletic fields next to the current soccer field will be converted into a temporary upper field lot to provide 160 parking spaces for staff members. Staff parking spaces will also be added behind the Dr. Dianne G. Van Hook University Center.

Currently a staff lot, Lot 2 will be converted to a student parking lot during the year-long construction of the parking structure. In addition, Lot 4, which is currently a student lot, will be converted into a student carpool lot.

“With the addition of new staff spaces, we will convert some of the Lot 14 staff spaces to student use,” Wilding said. “We have identified more room for student spaces in Lots 13 and 14, so be aware of new traffic patterns in that area.”

The college will also offer discount codes for Lyft and Uber rides to and from the Valencia campus.

To encourage students to take afternoon classes, parking on both the Valencia and Canyon Country campuses will not require a parking permit or pass after 2 p.m. (student lots only).

After Lot 7 is closed in March, free parking will also be available in a satellite lot near the campus. With the use of Uber and Lyft discount codes, students and staff members who park at the satellite lot can ride to the campus for free.

The new parking structure is funded by Measure E, the local obligation bond passed by Santa Clarita voters in June 2016.

The college currently has approximately 5,000 parking spaces on the Valencia campus.

For updated parking news and information, visit www.canyons.edu/parking.