Paid parking plan approved for Halifax Common

Motorists looking for parking along the Halifax Common will soon have the option of a pay-and-display parking scheme.

Halifax Regional Council has approved the plan which would create 90 spaces, served by six pay machines, over the next few months.

Councillors heard from a report which stated parking along the Common was particularly problematic for people wanting to use the Canada Games Skating Oval last winter.

The plan is getting mixed reaction from motorists on the Common this morning.

Sitting in her parked car on Cogswell Street, Jackie said it would draw her to the Oval and Common more often.

“Sure, if it’s easier to find parking,” she told News 95.7, Wednesday morning.

“It won’t make me come to the oval more often,” said hospital worker David Curry. “I didn’t experience the parking difficulty. I would park further down, in the town core, where it is metered parking.”

The report suggests 90 spaces would not be enough for residents wanting to park to use the skating oval and recommended designating some spaces as two-hour parking.

The parking initiative is part of the City’s ecoMOBILITY Project.

“Pay-and-display terminals have a much smaller footprint than the larger canopy ones used in parking lots, more similar to a parking meter,” stated the report to council.

The plan will cost the City about $70,000, plus $1,000 in monthly operating costs.

However, it’s expected to generate $135,000 in annual revenue.

It will cost motorists $1.50 per hour to park, $7.50 for a full day.

“That’s not bad because it’s $13 to park inside at the hospital,” said Jackie.

Local residents will get first right of refusal on $30 monthly street parking permits.

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