Evening on-street parking to be more costly under new St. Paul budget

ST. PAUL, Minn. (KMSP) - St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman announced that changes to on-street parking will be coming, as revealed in the city’s $545.8 million budget for 2016.
Enforcement hours for on-street parking meters in St. Paul will be extended from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday starting Jan. 1, with parking costing $1 an hour between those times. The city will also establish higher “event-rates” for on-street parking, encouraging greater use of parking ramps and lots.
“The Downtown Parking Study, completed earlier this year, underscored our need to adopt a market-based approach to parking,” Coleman said.
Coleman said there is an ample supply of parking to meet the demands – “even at its busiest times, there are more than 7,500 empty parking spaces throughout downtown.”
One goal is to preserve on-street parking for shorter-term use by people who may be frequenting a small business, while encouraging longer-term parkers to move to ramps and lots.
“All told, we anticipate $1.6 million in additional revenue through this parking plan – which reduces the overall burden on property owners for city services,” Coleman said.