The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) announced Friday that parking rates in the Uptown neighborhood will decrease from $2 an hour to $1.50. Pay hours in Lower Queen Anne, however, will increase.
As part of the 2011 budget, Mayor McGinn and City Council introduced a new policy that allows the city to set on-street parking rates and hours by neighborhood, “so that, on average, one to two spaces are available for visitor and shopper access.”
The new policy will see parking rate increases in nine neighborhoods where occupancy and demand are high. Rates in 13 other areas, including Lower Queen Anne, will either stay the same or decrease.
The new parking rates, which will be effective in February and March, will see hourly rates decrease to $1.50 in the majority of Uptown, and to between $1 to $1.25 in the area known as the “Uptown Triangle”—between Denny Way, Aurora, and Broad Street. (The $1 rate is for short-term parking between 2 and 4 hours, while the $1.25 rate is for long-term parking up to 10 hours at a time).
A number of the city’s thriving nightlife districts, including Uptown, the Commercial Core, Belltown, Pioneer Square, Chinatown/International District, Broadway, Pike-Pine, and the University District, will also see paid parking hours extended until 8 p.m. From SDOT:
Seattle’s center city and many neighborhood business districts are active destinations for customers and visitors well into the evening. Charging in the evening will enhance parking turnover and access in areas with an active nightlife and other evening businesses.
Currently paid parking hours end at 6 p.m. The new, extended hours will roll out beginning in April and continue through September 2011.
Along with the coming changes to on-street paid parking, the city will also be initiating a new way for people to pre-pay for parking. Beginning in February and March the hours that pay stations collect payments will also change. Currently pay stations do not accept payment between closing at 6 p.m. and 4 a.m. Under the new system pay stations will close at 6 p.m. (or 8 p.m., depending on the neighborhood) as usual, but will re-open at 10 p.m. to allow drivers to pre-pay for the first two hours of the following morning.