Heading to City Market for lunch? Don’t ignore the new parking meters

For the first time in recent memory, Kansas City’s River Market area has parking meters on certain streets. They’re now in operation and charging $1 per hour on weekdays.

For a 90-day demonstration period, meters have been installed in River Market, on 3rd and 5th streets and on Main Street and Grand Boulevard around the City Market.

The cost if $1 per hour with a two-hour maximum, which had been the current regulation in these unmetered spots. It applies on weekdays from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. It’s still free to park on weekends and holidays.

The meters are designed to make sure motorists don’t hog the parking spaces all day. They were installed in response to an audit on better parking management.

“More parking turnover means more business,” City Parking Manager Bruce Campbell said, adding that the city also wants to encourage people to use public transit downtown.

For the 90-day demonstration, four different smart-parking technology vendors are installing meters not just in River Market but also in the Crossroads Arts District and the Central Business District. The business district and Crossroads meters are replacing older meters. The business district meters are already in place, and the Crossroads meters should be in place within 30 days.

At the end of the demonstration, the city will chose one vendor to install a permanent product in all designated locations. The public can provide feedback on these various meters at kcmo.gov/parking or at KCMomentum.org.

This story was originally published September 1, 2017 at 9:40 AM with the headline "Heading to City Market for lunch? Don’t ignore the new parking meters."