A Park Harrisburg worker assists a customer with a meter in downtown Harrisburg.
There’s some good news for folks who need to stop downtown briefly to pick up a coffee, dry cleaning or a snack.
Park Harrisburg has announced that it will expand a program that allows 15 minutes of free parking in downtown Harrisburg.
Last year, under pressure from the city administration and business owners, Harrisburg’s parking operator agreed to permit a quarter-hour of free parking in four loading zones along busy N. 2nd Street. Starting Wednesday, that program will be expanded to 26 zones throughout the central business district.
“This solution was developed based on feedback provided by business owners in the CBD,” said Chris Sherman, an SP+ senior vice president. “The solution has been a success, making an expansion of the program the logical next step.”
Neither SP+ nor Park Harrisburg immediately stated where those zones would be, but they will be marked by signage. In addition, curbs in the zones will be painted white.
For this carrot, though, there’s also a stick.
Starting Wednesday, Park Harrisburg will stop permitting those using a credit card to buy only a half-hour of parking. Credit card users must purchase at least one full hour of parking, which costs $3 downtown and $1.50 in Midtown and south of downtown. Afterwards, they can extend their parking sessions in half-hour increments.
When using coins, motorists can continue to buy parking in smaller amounts. For a quarter, parkers get five minutes of time downtown and 10 minutes elsewhere.
For more information about Park Harrisburg’s rates, visit www.parkharrisburg.com.
Author: Lawrance Binda
