Downtown Duluth meter hours

OK, did I miss a memo or something? When the hell did the downtown meter enforcement time get extended to 9 o’clock? And who thought that was a good idea when we’re trying to get people downtown to frequent shops and restaurants?

11 Comments

Special K

about 10 years ago

Clearly.  Though I was posting on my phone and didn't bother to actually look for the memo, I was just THAT annoyed.  On one hand you hear, "Please come downtown and spend money for dinner" and on the other "You better be eating after 9:00 or you're gonna pay if you spend more than 1 hour and 20 minutes there!"  God help me if I had been going to Pizza Luce and waiting 2 hours for a disaffected hipster to bring me a sandwich.

Plus, surprise!  The lot by Endion station that I seem to recall being free after 9:00 is now 24hr enforcement.  Is the city really this fucking broke after losing that sweet sweet casino money?

Secretly I think this is all part of the plan to drive development in West Duluth, because honestly I'd rather stick around here and eat at Pak's or Gannucci's than deal with downtown.

wskyline

about 10 years ago

I am also confused about the pay stations in Canal Park, are they really enforced 24 hours a day? Or where are the hours posted? I had a conversation with one of the parking attendant people that stand by the pay stations, and I asked how late they are enforced, and he gave me a wishy-washy "weeeell until whenever we decide to leave, depending on how nice it is out, maybe 9, or maybe midnight," which was thoroughly confusing.

kerc

about 10 years ago

Adding to the general bitching:  the lot by Canal Park Brewing has a significantly higher minimum payment than the lot in the corner by Endion Station. WTF?  (I can't recall the exact details but it's like $3 vs. $0.50). The hourly rate is the same, if I recall correctly, but sometimes I just want to park in Canal Park for 30 minutes.

Jadiaz

about 10 years ago

I also want to know what the deal is with making a lot of the new pay lots unavailable to the public M-F 6am-6pm. Why? The lot right by Red Lobster used to be 45 minutes a quarter and is now a contractor only pay lot the days and hours listed above.

the218boss

about 10 years ago

Yep. Just another bogus tax in Duluth. We have to pay to park on the streets, that we, the taxpayers, already pay for.  So we pay taxes to build, and "maintain" (on the East side) the streets. Then we pay to park on them. Then we also get to pay taxes for the workers who enforce the parking tax so that the city can collect more taxes ... on the already taxed streets, and parking lots, that the highly taxed local businesses need customers to park in, so they can pay their taxes. I'll just continue to park for free, and keep burning the parking tickets they send me. 

For all the parking and street taxes we pay, shouldn't our streets be decently maintained??? Anyone drive on Grand Avenue between 63rd Avenue West and Fond du Lac? Terrible. What a joke.

the218boss

about 10 years ago

Maybe we should have used a few million from the Red Plan to build some free parking lots instead of pouring it down the drain. Such a great city, so many morons making decisions. So sad.

Barrett Chase

about 10 years ago

Grand Avenue is actually State Highway 23, and is maintained by MNDOT, not the City of Duluth.

spy1

about 10 years ago

Parking near the Red Lobster was leased out to the engineering firm that moved into Canal Park this year. I think the brewery lot is privately owned (by CPB?). The goal was to create uniform rules across the city, but it hasn't gone that way it seems

Mark Bauer

about 10 years ago

My name is Mark Bauer, and I am a parking operations specialist for the City of Duluth.  I'll be happy to address some of the items discussed here.

In June 1996, the Duluth City Council passed resolution #96-0446R, which extended the hours of enforcement for parking meters between Lake Avenue and 3rd Avenue East on Superior Street from 5:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.  This change was implemented in response to concerns by nearby businesses that due to the late-night operating hours of other businesses in the area and associated increased parking demand, public parking stalls were often not available for patrons of their establishments between 5:30 p.m. (the standard daily end time of on-street meter enforcement throughout downtown Monday through Saturday) and 9:00 p.m., when the demand eases due to the closing times of many of the businesses.  The altered hours of enforcement in this area have been in effect consistently since 1996, however, and there have been no recent changes to this or any other section of on-street parking downtown with regard to hours of enforcement.

There was, though, an off-street parking change this spring to Lake Place Lot, which is located adjacent to Endion Station in Canal Park, which altered the fee enforcement to 24/7.  This change was made based on demand for turnover of the stalls in the lot and to make the enforcement structure more consistent with the rest of the lots in the Canal Park area.  While the requirement of a fee for parking isn't always the most popular change at the time it is implemented, the primary purpose is to encourage turnover of the parking spaces for the benefit of the public and the business patrons, rather than merely to generate revenue.

Visitors to the surface lots in Canal Park will see signage at the entrance to each lot and near each point of payment.  The signs are light blue and black in color and contain information on rates, hours of enforcement, the location address, and contact information. 

The parking lot next to the Canal Park Brewery is privately owned and operated and not a City of Duluth lot.  It first opened for public parking in August 2012 and is jointly owned by the Canal Park Lodge and the Canal Park Brewery.

Regarding the contract-only status during the daytime at the Irvin and Steam Plant lots, this configuration is in place as part of a large-group arrangement to provide parking for employees of an area business.  These lots were chosen because they were outside the core area of daytime demand in Canal Park; the purpose is to accommodate these employees' parking needs while preserving the more in-demand public parking spaces in central Canal Park for the needs of visitors and business patrons.

If I can answer any further questions, please feel free to follow up with me at (218) 730-5177 or [email protected].

Special K

about 10 years ago

The fact that it takes a 7 paragraph essay to explain the nuances of the parking enforcement situation in the city highlights my main issue: 

It's a hassle paying to park, and I'll do it as needed, but the random enforcement times throughout the city make it a complete crapshoot, especially on a busy Friday night when you finally find a spot, pull in, and discover the details aren't what you were expecting/prepared for.

Side note, whatever happened to the plan to move the Irvin and fill in that nasty slip to create more parking and get rid of that busted old slip bridge?

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