NORTHAMPTON — People parking on Main Street could soon see a 25-cent increase to the hourly rate as well as an extension from one-to two-hour parking.
Mayor David Narkewicz is proposing these changes based on recommendations made by Walker Parking Consultants in a study from April 2015. The City Council is scheduled to review the proposed ordinance changes during Thursday’s meeting.
The increases to rates and time allowed would affect paid parking spaces along Main Street, from the intersection at State and South Street east toward Market Street.
“One of the main findings of the study was that Main Street — not surprising to anybody — has our most desirable parking,” Narkewicz told the Gazette on Wednesday. “And it tends to be always at capacity.”
Currently, parking on Main Street is restricted to one hour, which costs 75 cents. The increase would bring it to $1 per hour.
Right now, Narkewicz said, parking on Main Street costs about the same as parking on surrounding streets and lots. Observers conducting the 2015 study, he said, found people circled the downtown area in search of spots along the main drag, contributing to congestion. By increasing rates in these most sought-after spaces, he said the goal would be to increase turnover on Main Street and encourage parking along side streets, city lots and the garage.
“What the issue really is right now is that people are in some cases circling Main Street, and they’re more apt to leave because they can’t find a space,” said Narkewicz in response to comments on social media about how the increase would deter people from downtown. “In my experience, if people can find a prime parking space they’re willing to pay for it.”
The proposed changes, Narkewicz said, are part of a broader parking plan unfolding in the coming months, which includes retrofitting existing kiosks to allow consumers to pay with credit cards as well as a downloadable mobile phone application.
Upgrades to 25 existing pay stations, he said, will cost about $90,855, funded by parking revenues, as approved by the council last year. That project, he said, is currently out to bid.
Narkewicz said he’d hoped to implement the downtown parking changes all at once, but the new technology won’t arrive until 2017.
“Procurement’s taken us a little bit longer so that we’re right up against the holiday season,” he said, adding that he wants to implement these changes in time for holiday shoppers.
He said the extension to two-hour parking is a nod to downtown merchants, who have voiced concerns that one hour is not enough to get a meal, a haircut and walk back to a parking space.
Narkewicz noted another reported recommendation that he’s not proposing: an extension of the metered time on Main Street to 8 p.m. Right now, parking enforcement spans between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m.
While he said he understands the rationale — because enforcement stops at 6 p.m., so does the turnover of spaces, which can make it difficult to find dinnertime parking — he’s concerned that changing Main Street’s metered timeframe and not that of surrounding streets would muddy things.
“I thought it would be too confusing and frustrating for customers,” he said, referencing how people parking in spaces where Main Street intersects with side streets may find it unclear. “So that was why I did not put that forward.”
In response to comments he’s seen on social media, Narkewicz said he’s not out to stick people with more tickets, but to make it easier to park in the city.
“We’re trying to make the customer experience easier,” he said. “I know people have the perception that we’re out to give people tickets but we’re really not. The goal is for people who come to Northampton to be able to find a parking place.”
Amanda Drane can be contacted at adrane@gazettenet.com.