The city of Naperville is enacting changes in the downtown area that will extend the allowed time limit in the majority of on-street parking spaces, with the exception of parking on Washington Street, from 30 minutes to a two-hour time block from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday.
The decision comes on the heels of a community survey conducted by the city, in partnership with the Downtown Naperville Alliance.
Survey Results
The survey results indicate that about 80% of those who spend time in the downtown are there between one to two hours and two to three hours, and less than 9% spends less than an hour on a typical trip.
A previous ordinance implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic limited commuters’ on-street parking to 30 minutes to accommodate businesses fulfilling curbside pick-up orders and other shorter-term trips. Longer-term parking had remained in the city’s parking lots and garages.
The change will impact approximately 240 on-street parking spaces out of a total of more than 4,000 total spaces, according to council documents.
The city finds that a majority of survey respondents, or 45.7%, support the decision to terminate the 30-minute spaces, whereas an additional 35.2% of those surveyed would prefer that some 30-minute spaces remain and some return to two-hour parking.
Changes come as the city anticipates a busy shopping season in the downtown ahead of the holidays.
Parking Garage Changes
In a related development, the city has decided that the top level of the Van Buren and Water Street parking garages are designated only for residents and employees who live/work in the downtown.
Previously, these areas were closed off to the public after the city found an increase in disruptive driving behaviors such as loud mufflers, drag racing and cars arriving en masse causing disturbances downtown.
Parking garages will remain open to patrons on all lower levels when available.
Naperville News 17’s Megann Horstead reports.
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