Paid parking in Aggieville
Paid parking may soon be coming to Aggieville.
The city is exploring a parking management plan that would include an initial free 30-minute parking period, followed by $1-per-hour on-street parking for up to two hours, or 50-cents-per-hour off-street parking, up to $2 per day.
Monthly fees would also be available at $30 per month, or $20 per month for those who qualify.
City commissioner Usha Reddi says while the monthly fee may come out to only a few cents per hour for workers and business owners, it adds up to a high annual cost.
“I understand what it means coming down to cents per day, but that’s not how it’s going to be received or sold,” Reddi said.
Mayor Wynn Butler favors the parking plan and its ability to prevent traffic congestion potentially caused by student drivers.
“It’s not going to award anybody for parking in Aggieville and going to class,” Butler said. “We want that to be separate.”
The proposed plan calls for the use of parking meters, license-plate recognition technology and the Park Mobile app as a means of enforcing parking policies.
If implemented, paid parking could take place from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and begin fall of 2022.
The commission also discussed the likelihood of implementing parking fees at the downtown parking garage.
For more information on the proposed parking plan, click here.
North Manhattan Avenue changes
The Manhattan City Commission discussed potential alterations to Aggieville along North Manhattan Ave. Tuesday.
Among the proposed changes are increased greenery, altered parking-stall angles and a protected two-way bike lane from Bluemont Ave. to Claflin Rd.
The bike lane that runs through Aggieville will also be moved from the east side of North Manhattan Ave. to the west side , which Mayor Wynn Butler says will be an improvement.
“People drive a big pick-up truck up there and the end of it goes over the curb and it totally destroyed the bike lane,” Butler said. “And you had the problem of people continuing to ride their bikes on the sidewalk.”
While the plan is meant to provide upgrades, Jason Hilgers, deputy city manager, says the changes will likely result in a loss of parking stalls.
“The northern side has 19 stalls today,” Hilgers, referring to an animation of what the changes could look like, said. “It drops to 14 in this scenario and these five go away. So this is a loss of 10 parking stalls along the North Manhattan corridor, from Laramie to Bluemont, with this concept.”
The proposed changes have an estimated cost of between $2.5 and $3 million dollars.
City officials are aiming to finish the project around the same time as the Aggieville parking garage.
For more information on the proposed changes, click here.
Strategic Plan – public engagement
Manhattan residents will soon have a chance to help shape the city’s first-ever strategic plan.
From March 22 through March 25, the city will host a series of virtual meetings during which it will seek input from the public.
While the start times will vary to accommodate different schedules, city commissioner Usha Reddi says it may be a good idea to add extra meetings.
“It could be, even though people are working remotely, they’re still working on their work hours,” Reddi said. “So hopefully, if you see a huge group of people in those evening hours, that you have another week…if that’s the time that was most popular, that you give them a few more days to time in at that time.”
Commissioner Aaron Estabrook says it could also be valuable to remind residents of the purpose of the strategic plan.
“Explaining that to people and why it’s important is seeming to be pretty crucial at this point,” Estabrook said.
The city hopes to have the plan ready in time for this year’s budget discussions.
For more information about the virtual meetings and when they will take place, visit engagemhk.org/crossroads.
