Advertisement

New St. John's parking system ready to roll out on Monday

John Pike/CBC
John Pike/CBC

After years of losing revenue to vandalized and stolen parking meters, the City of St. John's is launching its new parking system Monday.

Twenty-four pay stations are being installed downtown, covering about 90 parking spaces in total, on Water Street between Queen Street and Ayre's Cove, and on Duckworth Street between Prescott Street and Cochrane Street, joining the pay-by-app parking zones that cover other streets, replacing the 1,160 parking metres that were mostly damaged or otherwise out of order.

The city will begin enforcing payment on Nov.16, and there will be signs to let drivers know what zone they are parking in.

Motorists will need their licence plate number and a credit or debit card. To deter vandalism and theft, the new machines will not accept cash. They're also equipped with alarms.

John Pike/CBC
John Pike/CBC

Coun. Debbie Hanlon said the day rate is $1.50 an hour for a maximum of two hours, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Hanlon says businesses are looking forward to having a new system in place to keep spots turning over for customers.

"The business owners, we're coming up on Christmas time, it's usually their best time. Without these parking meters it will hurt their business."

Each pay station is solar powered and costs about $6,000 each. The city says the revenue generated from parking fees is about $1.5 million annually.

Read more from CBC Newfoundland and Labrador