By Shereen Siewert
City leaders on Tuesday will review plans to install eight central pay stations at parking lots and ramps throughout downtown Wausau as part of Wausau’s parking modernization project.
The shelters, which are being installed to protect equipment and patrons from weather, are expected to cost between $21,600 and $37,200, depending on which design is chosen. Funding will come from the parking budget within the tax increment district, according to city documents.
City Finance Director Maryanne Groat researched pay stations used by other municipalities and received quotes from three vendors, including one local vendor, Wausau Canvas.
Members of the city council in October approved standardized two-hour parking on city streets within the downtown area. The plan was first announced in July.
Since the new rules were implemented in October, all on-street parking spaces in the downtown area are standardized to two hours of free parking. All parking meters will eventually be removed in those spaces. The city’s downtown surface parking lots and the Jefferson Street ramp also have two hours of free parking.
Parking pay stations were already planned as part of the project, but legal details prolonged their implementation, Groat said in October.
Pay stations will accept coin, cash and credit cards with a new parking mobile app to provide parking reminders via text and allow remote extended time purchases for drivers who need more time than the free two hours, according to the release. The mobile app, Passport, is the same system used in cities around the state including Appleton, Green Bay, Stevens Point, La Crosse and Fond du Lac.
Also planned: new license plate recognition technology that will eliminate the current chalking process, potentially improving enforcement and ensuring on-street space turnover more quickly, officials said.
The city will spend about about $300,000 on the automated pay stations and license plate recognition software, according to city documents. The funds will come from the city’s parking fund reserves. The expense was approved in July by members of the finance committee.
The changes rely in part on findings from a consultant the city hired four years ago. In June 2014, city officials approved a $54,000 plan to hire Walker Parking Consultants to study the area’s needs and assess parking downtown. This marks the first major change for downtown parking since the study was completed.
Plans for the parking shelters will be discussed at the finance committee meeting, slated for 5:15 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall, 407 Grant St., Wausau.
