Low compliance rates at local parking meters have the Arlington County Civic Federation considering a push for more enforcement.
The proposal to increase enforcement is one of 36 transportation-related recommendations that could be sent to county leaders. The package was introduced at the March 10 federation meeting, with a vote possible as early as next month.
The future of increased parking rates along Arlington’s commercial corridors is expected to go before the County Board later this month.
The Board is on track to decide whether to eliminate the “performance parking” pilot project or make the rate changes for about 4,500 parking spaces permanent.
The Thanksgiving holiday will bring closures to some Arlington County offices and services on Thursday and Friday.
All public libraries in Arlington will be closed on both days, as will almost all community centers and administrative offices at the parks department. The Long Bridge Aquatics and Fitness Center will be open from 6 a.m.-2 p.m. on Friday, however.
Increasing enforcement efforts appear to be paying off, literally, for Arlington County in the form of increased parking-meter compliance.
Still, fewer than half of all occupied metered spots in the county are being paid for, the figures confirm.
A recent conversation with an expert on parking policy delved into the complexities of attempting to improve transportation infrastructure in Arlington.
Efforts now underway in Arlington are helping to break a century-old national focus on the automobile as primary, and sometimes lone, transportation option, said Henry Grabar, author of “Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World.”
A year into a project experimenting with parking prices, the divide between the most and least expensive street parking in Arlington continues to widen.
The latest round of changes increases the prices of 29% of parking spots included in the program, but decreases the cost of 12% of parking spaces.
Parking compliance is up in Arlington, even as rates of parking tickets and traffic citations held relatively steady this year.
What’s behind the change? One new tool at law enforcement’s disposal this year, county and police spokespeople told ARLnow, is better data on where people are and aren’t paying to park.
Closures are taking place around the county for Election Day tomorrow (Tuesday).
The day is a county government holiday, bringing closures to all Arlington Public Library locations, the Long Bridge Aquatics and Fitness Center and community centers run by the Dept. of Parks and Recreation.
New signs have appeared in Courthouse indicating changes in how much it costs to park.
The signs stand at the intersections of N. Courthouse Road with 13th Street N. and Clarendon Blvd with N. Barton Street, indicating both the number and price of available parking spots in real time.
Today marks the start of the Memorial Day weekend and the return of Arlington’s spraygrounds.
The kid-oriented water features at county parks are open for the season as of today — Friday, May 24. All spraygrounds will operate from 10 a.m.-8 p.m. through Monday, the county says, before returning to normal hours on Tuesday.
While road repaving season has kicked off in Arlington, crews are working on local roads for another reason.
They are installing traffic sensors in and marking some 4,500 parking spots in the Rosslyn-Ballston and Pentagon City-Crystal City corridors.
Next month, Arlington County will hold a community event to kick off a three-year parking pilot program that prices parking by demand in a few highly trafficked corridors.
This is the first official step forward since the Arlington County Board accepted a $5.4 million grant from the Virginia Dept. of Transportation for the “performance parking” program.
