The Winnipeg Parking Authority wants to start charging people to park on some downtown streets in the evening.
Right now, metered parking is free after 5:30 p.m.
The WPA wants to extend paid parking to ensure there are enough spaces for customers coming downtown at night.
“If you’re going to an event, you want to be able to find parking but if you’re going to be parked for that long you really should be parked in an off-street location,” said Colin Stewart, WPA manager.
The proposal actually first came to council back in 2012, but has yet to be implemented.
The parking authority said the plan will discourage people from parking for free all evening and generate an appropriate level of turnover.
“If you’re going to that event and tying up (street parking during) that event for five, six hours, then someone who’s going to one of the various restaurants in the downtown who has say maybe a 7:30, or an 8:00 o’clock table reservation, they can’t find parking,” Stewart said.
The proposal calls for a charge of up to $2 per hour.
This evening parking period would run from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. After that it would be free.
The plan affects only selected areas downtown.
There will be no changes to parking in the Exchange District.
But Stewart said the parking authority is exploring the idea of implementing paid evening parking in the Exchange District at a later time.
Sunday parking in downtown Winnipeg will remain free during the day and through the evening.
The plan will be in front of a city council committee on Monday.
If approved there, it will go to executive policy committee and then full council for approval.
The parking authority said the meters need to re-programmed so, even if passed, the changes likely won’t happen until possibly sometime this summer.
