SAN DIEGO — If you're looking for a transit station that will provide easy access to park your car and take the trolley, Grantville trolley station might not be the location you want to take.
“It’s hard enough in San Diego, even when you want to leave your car, they have to do everything they can to make it easier for people using the trolley,” said Paul Krueger who takes a trolley from Grantville Trolley Station.
He and other riders using that station say parking has become a nightmare, the parking lot that provided space for dozens of cars is currently under construction. It's being replaced with a 124-unit housing project.
A project that is intended to bring more homes to low income families but currently it's bringing less accommodations for those taking the green line.
“This does not make it easy to use the trolley, in fact it's the opposite, it makes it impossible to use the trolley from this stop. To somebody like me who wants to see more people use mass transit and tries to use it when i can, it’s totally frustrating,” said Krueger.
Riders are now saying they start their day circling the streets for parking, adding that this only discourages people from using public transportation. Defeating the city’s purpose to motivate people to reduce carbon emissions by commuting on public transit.
“It makes no sense if you're trying to increase the number of people who use the trolley, get people off the freeway and get them on the trolley. You have got to have parking for them at the parking station,” said Krueger.
CBS 8 went to the station to witness what riders are dealing with, on camera we captured limited street parking–the available parking spots were at a distance.
Riders even told CBS 8 they are changing their route, so we reached out to the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System about the parking issues, in a written statement they say:
MTS will have parking there again, right now there is no parking to make room for the construction of the affordable housing project there. We are recommending that people either use another park and ride location or there are also several bus routes that serve the Grantville Transit Center.
They also added that the limited public parking surrounding the station is for now the only chance for those who wish to use the Grantville trolley station. There was no mention of when or how parking will return.
Construction on the project is expected to run through the beginning of next year.
WATCH RELATED: MTS break ground on 100% affordable housing project at Grantville Trolley Station