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Joliet considers free two-hour downtown street parking with new zones, removes meters and plans enforcement by license-plate readers
Summary
City staff outlined a proposal to replace paid street meters in downtown Joliet with 2-hour free parking in three color-coded zones, remove existing meters, and enforce time limits with license-plate reader cameras; officials estimated sign costs at about $25,000 and said meter revenue loss would be limited.
City staff on June 16 described a proposal to replace most downtown street meters with free two-hour street parking in three color-coded zones and to enforce time limits with license-plate reader cameras, Public Works staff member Greg Ruddy told the council during the pre-council meeting.
Ruddy said the plan calls for three zones — A, B and C — designed to create turnover for restaurants and retailers while allowing people to move between zones and receive a new two-hour allowance. He said the city would remove most on-street meters, maintain paid parking in decks and commuter lots, and use a vehicle-mounted license-plate reader to detect vehicles parked beyond two hours. “A vehicle will circulate to downtown, determine if a vehicle has been there more [than] 2 hours, and then have the potential to issue a violation,” Ruddy said.
Staff estimated signage procurement and installation lead time at five to seven weeks and a signage cost on the higher end of roughly $25,000. Ruddy said the proposed violation fee would be $30. The city also proposed limited overnight no-parking between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m. on main thoroughfares such as Chicago, Cass and Jefferson streets to allow street sweepers to operate.
Finance Director Kevin told the council the parking fund generates about $718,000 annually and that meters currently account for roughly $142,000 of that total. He said some of the meter revenue likely would shift to paid decks and lots rather than disappear entirely because drivers who formerly fed a meter and stayed all day would likely use paid off-street parking instead.
Council members asked how drivers would know which zone they were in; Ruddy said signs would be color-coded and that the signage would clearly state re‑parking restrictions. Several council members suggested an initial period of liberal warnings rather than immediate fines to allow residents and visitors time to adapt to the new rules.
Staff compared Joliet’s draft policy to other Chicago-land communities and said a two-hour limit is common in peer cities such as Naperville and Elgin; some peer cities use 90 minutes or three hours in portions of downtowns. The staff recommended license-plate reader enforcement after previously purchasing the vehicle-mounted cameras.
No final vote was taken in the pre-council meeting; the ordinance to amend Chapter 19, Article 2 of the Joliet Code of Ordinances to establish the two-hour free parking zones was listed for the council agenda the following day.
