Parking in downtown St. John's might be easier than you think, says Dave Lane
Everyone knows that finding a parking spot in downtown St. John's can be difficult at times, especially in the winter.
However, a St. John's city councillor thinks there may be more spaces available than most people realize.
Almost every year when the snow falls, downtown parking becomes an issue as shops complain they are losing business from those who can't find a place to put their vehicles.
Recently, the blame game was being played over who was responsible for lost business on Valentine's Day, after a number of meters were bagged so that city crews could clear snow.
In light of the recent parking controversy, Coun. Dave Lane says there may be more options for parking in the downtown area than many motorists know.
"We found that when the City of St. John's had added a couple of new parking garages in co-operation with office buildings, a lot of people didn't know these were available," he said.
Lane recently tweeted a link to a new map created by Downtown St. John's, formally known as the Downtown Development Commission.
The map shows where most parking spots can be found across the downtown area, including parking garages and lots. It also shows where you can park, how much it costs and when certain spots can be used free of charge.
One aspect of the map that may be a unknown to many drivers are the 'blue star' spots, which are 10 private parking lots that are free for the public to park in over the weekend.
Lane said drivers might not be aware of these spaces because they may be marked as private at the actual site.
"People don't know about this because the sign says 'parking by permit only', and it doesn't say necessarily, 'except on weekend'," he said.
"So that's why we have the parking information card available."
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