Permanent parking changes are happening in downtown Colorado Springs as the city starts a pilot program aimed at enhancing visitation to the area.
The new program, in partnership with Downtown Partnership, is focusing on five areas identified through community feedback: parking, security, cleanup efforts, homelessness response and business support.
Through the end of the year, additional security will be in place for early morning hours as well as extra clean-up efforts.
Permanent parking changes are also taking place in downtown Colorado Springs and Old Colorado City as a part of the program.
Metered parking hours are changing to 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday-Saturday and from 1-8 p.m. on Sundays. Parking will also be free in city-owned garages and lots on Sundays .
The changes are the result of a community-wide survey earlier this year, according to Public Works and Parking Enterprise director Richard Mulledy.
“In May, we started with a whole public outreach where we got comments and concerns from citizens and businesses.... And then we looked at other cities, their policies that are similar sized cities. We looked at, what are our own policies– How do they affect parking? and some of the early low hanging fruit from that study. The early thing that we recognized were we probably need to adjust the meter hours.”
There is still opportunity to provide feedback to the city about parking.
“It's a really nice way to say, 'Hey, I think there should be more parking here, or it'd be nice to have a loading zone here. Or, Hey, it'd be nice if we had a garage over here,'” said Mulledy. “We want to make sure that our policies align with the stakeholders that are involved.”
The city's economic team also plans to continue connecting with downtown businesses to hear ways to further collaborate.
“With the holidays right around the corner, there are so many reasons to come Downtown,” said Mayor Yemi Mobolade in a statement. “And I hope this coordinated effort helps encourage additional traffic and visitation. We invite you to experience Downtown.”
The city is also increasing street outreach and case management to help people living on the street exit homelessness.
The pilot will run through the end of the year. Results and any additional permanent changes will be announced in January 2025.
Downtown Partnership is a financial supporter of KRCC. Financial supporters have no editorial influence.
