Parking worries loom with Moncton event centre set to open this summer

Moncton's Downtown Event Centre is expected to open in September but the business community continues to have concerns about where patrons will park.

The new Main Street stadium, which will seat up to 10,000 people, will not have an on-site parking lot. 

​John Wishart, interim CEO of the Greater Moncton Chamber of Commerce, said his members support the transportation dispersal plan, which the city developed after construction started on the downtown centre.

But the business group still has concerns, he said.

The dispersal plan encourages people to use public transit, bike or park within a 15-minute walk of the Downtown Centre. 

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"It''s going to be important that we have a system that allows people to get to and from that centre and still respects the rights of private lot owners in the downtown," Wishart said.

I would be surprised if you don't see one or two [parking garages] spring up over the next couple of years to help with the downtown centre especially.- John Wishart, Greater Moncton Chamber of Commerce

Wishart agreed with city planners that there are too many large parking lots in the downtown, particularly between Main Street and the Petitcodiac River.

He is hopes to see more parking garages.

"I don't know of any specific projects but I would be surprised if you don't see one or two [parking garages] spring up over the next couple of years to help with the downtown centre especially."

Changing habits won't be easy

Wishart said his members are "intrigued" by a proposal from the New Brunswick Cycling Advocacy Group.

The group is asking Moncton council to update its parking bylaws to make it more difficult for businesses to have large parking lots.

Spokesperson Krysta Cowling said the idea is to cap the number of spaces a business can have.

It leaves a sour taste when they come out and maybe innocently parked somewhere and see that their wheel has been clamped, and they can't move unless they pay the $180.- John Wishart, Greater Moncton Chamber of Commerce

"So if you want to put in more parking spots you still can, but you'd have to pay a fee and then that cost would go into a fund that would be reinvested into active transportation," Cowling said last week.

"So we'd help fund more transit, we'd help fund bike lanes, things like that."

Wishart believes changing the way people think about parking will be tough.

"I get the sense that younger people are more in favour of cycling and public transit. But of course we need a public transit system that makes it easy to get from A to B and doesn't take too long or isn't inconvenient," he said.

"I applaud this group for bringing forward an idea on how we can maybe gently push the city and motorists to a more diverse style of transportation."

Boots still a problem

Before the downtown centre opens, Wishart wants the city to regulate the use of parking boots in private lots where people have parked illegally.

"I'm hoping changes in municipal legislation allow the city to take some sort of control over the practice," he said.

"It's one thing if a private lot owner wants to have the ability to police its lot and we understand that. but at the same time I think for visitors, for residents, it leaves a sour taste when they come out and maybe innocently parked somewhere and see that their wheel has been clamped and they can't move unless they pay the $180."

​Wishart said his vehicle was booted before Christmas, and the experience gave him a new appreciation of what it feels like to be on the receiving end of the punishment.

"Fine me 30 bucks or whatever, but $180 is a bit much," he said.

Wishart said there has to be a better way to patrol private lots and he called the $6 per minute he paid for parking that day "ridiculous." 

"I don't think even some business owners are aware of how predatory the booting company is."

Lot owners could benefit

Wishart said rather than booting cars, he hopes private landowners in Moncton will develop a new parking system by the time the Downtown Event Centre opens.

In many cases the lots are used from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. for employees, he said, and after that could be opened to the public for a fee.

"Those lots empty out just at the time when most of the events at the downtown centre will be happening in the evening — so can we work together to create some kind of private per event parking system that's not over-regulated … but at the same time allows patrons of the downtown centre to park as close as possible."