You don’t have to feed the meters anymore in downtown Davenport.
The council voted Monday night to allow free, two-hour parking at downtown meters. City leaders looked at recommendations made by a traffic consultant group to phase out parking meters and lure more visitors to the area.
The two-hour time limit will be in effect from Iowa to Scott streets and from the river to 5th Street. Outside of that area you can park free for 24 hours.
"For too long we've driven people out of downtown Davenport," says Davenport Mayor Bill Gluba. "We want to bring them back."
Gluba hopes that’s exactly what the pilot program to reevaluate parking will do. He says downtown parking has been a problem for as long as he can remember. He hopes the meters will eventually be gone for good. “Half the time you can't read the writing on the meters, some of the meters don't work properly, I mean, it's a nightmare." A nightmare some say is keeping people away from downtown businesses.
Business owners say they get a lot of complaints from customers about parking tickets. But now that you’ll be able to park in a metered spot for two hours without worrying about getting a ticket, businesses are expecting to see sales rise.
Susan Marske says the new parking rules will bring more customers into Café Fresh. "It'll be a huge impact on us because more people will want to come and eat as well as do shopping in the downtown area because they won't have to worry about getting back to their car before the meter maid comes to give them a ticket."
Tom Swanson, General Manager of River Music Experience, was surprised to hear about the free parking, and says it’s a step in the right direction. "I know that there have been a lot of efforts over the last several years to get people downtown, in all our downtowns, but particularly in Davenport and I think that any barriers they can take away from that will certainly help out."
The traffic consultant group recommended the free parking for a year. The council decided to give it a try for eight months instead. They'll keep track of the numbers and re-visit the free parking in June.
The council's decision goes into effect immediately, but it'll take a few days to get the meters bagged. Keep in mind, if you go over the two-hour limit, you'll still get a ticket.
