On the surface, it is just a trade of asphalt. The University of Louisiana at Lafayette and Olde Tyme Grocery have swapped nearby parking lots so po‑boy fans can park right next to the restaurant while the university takes over the lot across St Mary Boulevard.
For regulars, the impact showed up fast. Customers no longer have to dodge traffic to reach the door, and one diner described it as “easier parking to get in and out” with fewer tight maneuvers around other cars.
That may sound like a small quality-of-life fix, but safer, shorter walks instead of quick hops across a busy street also reduce the kind of car movements that clutter campus edges with noise and exhaust.
University planners see a bigger picture behind the swap. The parcel now controlled by UL Lafayette sits on a key corridor the school has long targeted to connect its main campus to a growing Health Sciences Campus on former Our Lady of Lourdes property, an area of about twenty five acres acquired in 2022 and 2023.
Earlier versions of the campus master plan around St Mary and Johnston Streets called for more green spaces, stronger transit links and a less vehicle-dependent community, with walking zones centered near Olde Tyme Grocery itself.
If future projects move more parking into structured garages on the campus edge, something UL has already explored, that frees surface lots for trees, shade and safer bike and walking routes. In everyday terms, that could mean fewer laps hunting for a spot in the sticky Louisiana heat and more chances to cross campus under real shade instead of between bumpers.
The official statement was published by the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
