News
November 19, 2008
Council Receives Downtown Master Parking Plan
The Raleigh City Council today received recommendations in the Downtown Master Parking Plan. Council members referred the report to its Budget and Economic Development Committee for further study. The plan also was referred to the Downtown Raleigh Alliance (DRA) to get feedback from downtown business owners. The DRA will report back to the council in January.
The purpose of the Downtown Master Parking Plan is to discourage long term parking in on-street spaces so there is more turnover. The plan also seeks to provide a higher level of efficiency and customer service at ParkLink, the City’s on-street parking program. The Downtown Master Parking Plan was drafted by the City’s consultant, Carl Walker Inc., in collaboration with the City’s Downtown Parking Task Force and City staff.
Following are recommendations in the Downtown Master Parking Plan:
- Expand the parking meter program. This would include installing metered parking in phases beginning with the Downtown Overlay District followed by Glenwood South and Hillsborough Street and in other areas within the general limits of the Downtown Overlay District. New Pay-by-Space pay stations would be used in most of these areas. These new pay stations would allow customers to use multiple payment modes, including debit and credit cards as well as coins. The City would replace more single-head meters in the downtown area with the Pay-by-Space pay stations. Pay stations are already being used in the 200 block of West Hargett Street and in the 2200 block of Hillsborough Street;
- Implement a new parking rate structure. On-street parking rates would be increased to $1 for 1-hour spaces and $2 for two-hour spaces, but customers would not have to purchase the maximum amount of time and could buy lesser amounts as needed, an option currently not provided.
- Hourly rates in City parking decks would not be increased, and a uniform hourly rate would be established for all City parking decks except the underground Convention Center Deck; and,
- Hire additional staff for ParkLink to effect service improvements, and begin planning for a downtown business office that could be operational by June 2010.
Prepared by:
John Boyette
Public Affairs Specialist
Public Affairs Department
For More Information Contact:
Mike Kennon
Transportation Operations Manager
Public Works Department
222 West Hargett Street
Raleigh, NC 27602
919-996-3430
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