FAYETTEVILLE -- The city is making some changes to its paid parking system on and around Dickson Street before construction begins on an entertainment district parking deck.
New numbers and letters are being painted on the pavement. Toll gates are being removed from the parking lot east of the Walton Arts Center and south of Kingfish bar. And several dozen parking spaces will be taken out of commission there and at the parking lot south of the Walton Arts Center once deck construction begins next month.
At A Glance
Fayetteville Paid Parking
Entertainment district parking is enforced between 2 p.m. and 2 a.m. daily. People who park in public on-street spaces during those times are required to pay at any of the city’s parking kiosks. Drivers who park in a residential space must have a permit or display a guest pass.
Parking fees for public on-street spaces and most municipal parking lots are:
Monday through Friday
• 2 a.m.-2 p.m.: Free
• 2 p.m.-5 p.m.: $0.50 per hour
• 5 p.m.-2 a.m. : $1 per hour
• All day option: $5
Saturday, Sunday
• 2 a.m.-2 p.m.: Free
• 2 p.m.-6 p.m.: $0.50 per hour
• 6 p.m.-2 a.m.: $1 per hour
• All day option: $5
Source: City Of Fayetteville
Darrin Wright, field operations supervisor for the Parking Management Division, said the work is intended to make the city's paid parking system more customer friendly.
None of the changes will affect the main parking lot west of the arts center. Wright said gates are still needed there for event parking.
An "R" is being painted on all residential parking spaces to differentiate the slots from spaces available to the general public.
Other on-street parking spaces numbers have been converted from three to four digits. Wright said the move should help ease confusion about whether a parking space is in a public or private lot.
Some of the private lots in the entertainment district, including the Fayetteville Depot lot where Arsaga's coffee shop is and the lot outside Clubhaus Fitness, have two- or three-digit numbers identical to spaces in residential areas.
"As of today, our pay machines won't take any three-digit numbers," Wright said Friday.
He said Marking Systems of Little Rock is being paid $3,030 to paint the new letters and numbers.
The lot east of the arts center and south of Kingfish has been gated, without numbered spaces, since the entertainment district paid parking program went into effect in August 2010. Removing the gates and adding numbers will make it more uniform with other city lots, such as the one behind Hog Haus Brewing and Jose's Mexican Restaurant, Wright said.
The lot south of the arts center will get numbered spaces and have its gates removed once parking deck construction is complete. During construction, about 25 of its 56 spaces will be used by arts center employees. The rest of the lot will be used to stage construction material, Wright said, placing the entire lot off limits for about a year.
Arts center employees have set up shop in the basement of the Metro District Building, across West Avenue from the south parking lot at 509 W. Spring St., during deck construction. The center's administrative offices and staff parking lot are being removed as part of the parking deck project.
Wright said about 11 of the 56 spaces in the east lot will be unavailable during parking deck construction to make way for a construction trailer.
No paid parking spaces are being added as a result of the changes, except in the parking deck. And there won't be a change in fees or parking enforcement times, Wright said.
Jeremy Pate, the city's Development Services director who's overseeing the parking deck project, said he expects construction to last until mid- to late 2015. The City Council earlier this month awarded a $448,000 excavation and demolition contract to Baldwin & Shell Construction of Rogers. Pate said he expects a construction contract to be ready for the council's approval Aug. 19 or Sept. 2.
NW News on 07/26/2014