Free Sunday parking, new meters, increased focus on Old Colorado City part of new parking & curbside management plan in Colorado Springs
Scott Harrison
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — Downtown patrons will be pleased to know that parking rates won’t increase immediately, as part of a new parking and curbside management plan finalized by city officials last week.
The city’s Parking Enterprise spent nearly a year publicizing the plan and gathering citizen input that helped shape the plan to guide parking and curbside activities for the next ten years.
Officials wanted to update the existing plan because more people are now living downtown, thanks to a flurry of apartment construction over the past several years; there are more businesses on the south end of downtown; and there have been new destination spots built, such as the U.S Olympic and Paralympic Museum, and the Weidner Field soccer stadium.
The plan will monitor parking efficiency and curbside use; the latter has become more popular since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, with curb spaces used for a variety of purposes — public transit, ride-sharing services, food pickup and deliveries, scooter parking, and even restaurant dining.
The current Tejon Street revitalization plan incorporates some of those aspects: Enhanced outdoor dining spaces, improved sidewalk accessibility and public safety, and beautification.
A unique aspect of the plan is including the Old Colorado City shopping district west of downtown, which has numerous shops and restaurants, fewer parking spaces than downtown, and a higher concentration of people living around the district.
Some changes are already happening, such as replacing the city’s 2,800 parking meters with new technology — a process that will take a year and cost $2 million.
The city is also offering free parking at its lots and garages on Sundays.
Other changes could include delivery parking for downtown businesses — moving it from center turn lanes to alleys or even some curbsides.
Officials say that they’ve designed the plan to be flexible and adapt to changes in transportation, shopping habits, etc.
To see the full plan, visit: https://coloradosprings.gov/node/161111.