City Announces Upcoming Changes to Parking in Old Town
City Announces Upcoming Changes to Parking in Old Town
New garage discounts and increased parking rates on select residential blocks encourage visitors to use off-street parking
Starting Friday, September 2, the hourly parking rate on 12 residential Old Town blocks will increase to $3, up from the current rate of $1.75. The move is part of a City of Alexandria effort to help preserve residential parking in the neighborhood. The current restricted parking hours and the 2-hour time limit remain unchanged and guests on these blocks can still park for free with a guest permit.
Along with this increase of on-street parking fees, the City is also offering newly discounted off-street parking options. The hourly rate at the Courthouse Garage (111 S. Pitt Street) will be reduced on nights and weekends to $1/hour (currently $2.50/hour). Other City garages also offer cheaper parking options, at $2.50/hour.
These changes are a part of an initiative, approved by City Council in June 2022, to help protect residential parking in Old Town. The use of new pricing to incentivize parking behavior, including charging a higher rate on residential blocks that require non-residents to pay to park and lowering parking rates in underutilized garages, were among the approved efforts. Both actions aim to encourage City visitors to use cheaper off-street parking when driving to Alexandria.
To determine where to implement these changes, City staff reviewed utilization data from the City’s pay-by-phone provider, ParkMobile, and identified 12 blocks that have high numbers of non-residents paying to park on these blocks.
In advance of the September 2 change, the City will post signs on affected blocks notifying parkers of the increased rates. Additionally, ParkMobile will send an email and in-app notifications to users who park in these zones. Over the next few months, staff will continue to monitor the data collected for these blocks and the garages to evaluate the impact of the changes and adjust as needed.
Visit alexandriava.gov/Parking for more information about these upcoming changes.
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This release is available at alexandriava.gov/go/3915.