Scottsdale Working To Change Downtown Employees' Parking Habits

Published: Monday, August 29, 2016 - 8:03am
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(Photo by Christina Estes - KJZZ)
Parking in downtown Scottsdale.

City leaders say there’s enough parking for most retail outlets, restaurants and events in downtown Scottsdale, but not enough for city workers. A new trolley and reduced parking hours are two ways the city hopes to help some downtown businesses in the northeast quadrant.

The area from Indian School to Camelback Roads and Scottsdale to Miller Roads has several office developments where employees often use free street parking.

“So, it’s been difficult for many of our businesses to have adequate parking for their customers,” said Paul Basha, Scottsdale’s Transportation Director.

He thinks they’ve found a couple short to mid-term solutions. Starting September 19, Scottsdale will launch a free express trolley to take employees from free public lots and garages straight to their offices. The express service will run from 4 to 10 a.m with regular trolley service continuing until 9 p.m.

Basha says they city will also reduce free street parking from three hours to two. "And, we’re actually going to hire a parking control officer, a second one, so we’ll be strictly enforcing the two hour limit,” he said.

More details on the changes can be found here.

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