{"id":110539,"date":"2024-07-08T21:30:00","date_gmt":"2024-07-09T05:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/home\/downtown-parking-changes-aim-to-ensure-rules-are-enforced\/"},"modified":"2024-07-09T19:06:56","modified_gmt":"2024-07-10T03:06:56","slug":"downtown-parking-changes-aim-to-ensure-rules-are-enforced","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/news\/downtown-parking-changes-aim-to-ensure-rules-are-enforced\/","title":{"rendered":"Downtown parking changes aim to ensure rules are enforced"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t\t\t\t
New parking technology seeking to improve availability downtown to workers and shoppers through better enforcement of rules is getting mixed reactions during its initial months of implementation.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
An overview of the changes that started in April and are scheduled to continue in the months ahead was presented by George Schaaf, Parks and Recreation director for the City and Borough of Juneau, to the Juneau Assembly during its July 1 meeting. Changes in place so far include enforced two-hour daily limits, increased security, and a pay-to-park mobile system.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
Other recently implemented changes are a full-time parking ranger for the fiscal year that started July 1, improved standards for custodial contractors, and Parks and Recreation impounding vehicles in place.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
Schaaf said the goal is to reduce the number of vehicles parked long-term in short-term spaces, ensuring both the MPG and DTC are utilized at or near capacity year-round, and on-street hourly parking spaces are available near all destinations throughout the day.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
“The new system should significantly reduce the amount of time required to manage and enforce parking, especially for the Juneau Police Department and Parks and Recreation, allowing staff to focus on providing other core public services,” he said during the July 1 meeting.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
But the changes aren’t being welcomed by everybody. Elyssa Buettel, who works at Rainy Retreat Books, said it’s hard to find free parking for work.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
“I work here eight hours a day and I’m driving all the way from Lena Loop,” Buettel said. “It takes half an hour for me to drive here. I can’t park near the store and I have to park five blocks up the hill because there’s the two-hour parking limit. I can’t park down here without kicking 20 people out of the store every two hours.”<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
The short-term parking rule also discourages visitors from the Mendenhall Valley, said Cordova Pleasants, owner of Cordova’s boutique in downtown Juneau.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
“You can’t enjoy downtown,” she said. “In two hours, people coming from the valley don’t have the time to eat and shop. You just can’t do both.”<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
The updated system is used at all off-street parking facilities in downtown Juneau, including the Marine Parking Garage (MPG) and Downtown Transit Center Garage (DTC). The Juneau Police Department uses the system to enforce free on-street parking downtown, with Docks and Harbors providing enforcement at Auke Bay Statter Harbor and the Downtown Port Facility.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
“The two hours that you get of free parking downtown begins when you enter the downtown parking management zone and it is not something that resets the clock by moving your car five feet or a block through an intersection,” Schaaf said. “We want to make sure we’re encouraging folks to park off-street if they’re going to be downtown for a while and make sure that on-street parking is available for people who have a pretty short time to conduct business downtown.”<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t