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Year-long parking study recommends free Sundays, first hour free in garages and longer on-street limits
Summary
Consultants presented a year-long parking study showing downtown peak occupancy at about 52% and recommended a patron-focused plan: extend on-street free time to 90 minutes, remove meters, provide a free first hour in garages, make Sundays free, improve enforcement and run a 9–12 month implementation.
A year-long parking study presented to Roanoke City Council on Aug. 3 concluded downtown overall peak occupancy is about 52%, leaving substantial underused public and private parking supply, and recommended a patron-first program to improve turnover, safety and the visitor experience.
"As a whole, though, your entire downtown is on 52% of the spaces," John Forrester, principal at Fishback, told the council, noting the market garage peaked at roughly 80% at weekday mid-morning and that many employees and residents use on-street spaces instead of long-term permits. The study's preferred option would: eliminate on-street meters while extending free on-street time (from 60 to 90 minutes), provide a free first hour in municipal garages, designate Sundays as free across downtown, adjust garage daily caps modestly and strengthen enforcement including zone-based reparking intervals. Staff estimated about a 9–12 month rollout and noted some legal and code changes will be necessary before implementation.
