Free 90 Minute Niagara Falls Downtown Parking: Exploring the Queen Street District has never been easier!
Exploring the Queen St. District has never been easier! Did you know that starting June 29, 2015, the City, along with the Downtown B.I.A, will be offering free 90 minute parking on marked streets downtown?Soon you will be able to park on all signed streets in the Downtown zone for a maximum of 90 consecutive minutes – free of charge. You can park at as many locations in the zone as you wish – given you remain within the allotted 90 minute period. Upon expiry – you may not re-park ( for free) within 4 hours of initially parking.
Municipal Parking Lots are still available for those who wish to park longer than the allotted time.
Free parking is coming to downtown Niagara FallsCouncil approved staff’s and the downtown business improvement association’s request for 90-minute free parking on Queen St., and Valley Way, as well as on downtown side streets, on a one-year trial basis.
Motorists will not be able to re-park on those streets for four hours.
Those who want to stay longer than 90 minutes will be directed to municipal pay parking lots in the area.
“Hopefully we can educate the people about the free parking first and then we’d be able to attract more patrons to the downtown, creating new business opportunities for … the downtown,” said BIA general manager Nem Kuntos, who addressed council during their meeting Tuesday evening.
“When it comes to bringing more people to the downtown, parking has been a key issue.”
Staff projects the city will lose $26,000 in revenue during the one-year trial period.
The city will recover half that cost from the BIA’s annual budget and the other half from the $280,000 Community Improvement Plan reserve fund dedicated to the downtown. That reserve fund is made up of revenue generated from taxes.
The BIA wanted council to offset 50% of the lost revenue from its tax-supported budget, as well as 50% from the BIA budget.
Kuntos said the BIA plans to spend thousands of dollars on an advertising campaign to let people know of the free parking.
Currently, there is paid parking along Queen St. and Valley Way, with two-hour free parking on all side streets.
Kuntos said 90-minute free parking gives people an opportunity to visit downtown and not have to worry about getting a parking ticket, which he added has been a disincentive for people coming to the district.
“This is a move in the right direction,” he said. “It’s something we have been talking about and trying to come up with a solution for a while now. It’s a good move for our businesses, their customers and for our residents.”
Staff said the change to 90-minute free parking can be completed within 30 days.
Source: Niagara Falls Review
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