Tucson proposes more parking meters, extended hours

TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Downtown, on 4th Avenue, and near the University of Arizona, Tucson parking meters could be collecting your money even later on weekdays and now on Saturdays.

Right now, Tucson’s roughly 1,800 parking meters are enforced from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday. The city wants to extend the hours to 8 p.m., while also adding paid parking on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Parking time limits would not be enforced after 5 p.m. There is currently a two hour maximum from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

All day free parking would remain on Sundays, and the parking rates would stay at $1 per hour.

It comes after a ‘Curb Management Study’ looked at parking trends over several months and concluded too many people are filling up free parking on nights and weekends.

“It’s really about equity and ensuring that more people can find those convenient parking spaces,” said Tom Janowitz, Park Tucson Administrator.

To open up more spots, the city wants to push employees at nearby businesses, and others parking for longer periods, to surface lots and garages that offer flat fees.

“For years we’ve heard that there’s a lack of parking on the street, so we do feel like a change is needed,” said Janowitz.

The hope is that change will increase street parking turnover, opening up more spots and bringing more people downtown.

But community members like Brandon Griffith say that might backfire.

“It’s like nice on the weekends to come down with the kids,” he said during his visit to downtown Thursday morning. “If the meters are gonna extend past five o’clock, for us, we’re probably not gonna come down here as much, probably.”

Griffith lives nearby in the colorful Mercado District on the Westside, where there is currently free parking with a two-hour time limit. The city tells KGUN it plans to add parking meters to those street parking spaces, another move aimed at increasing turnover.

“If they meter the streets in the Mercado, it’s gonna push people to park in the neighborhoods, right?” said Griffith. “And that’s gonna affect all of the people that live there.”

All the proposed changes are slated for early 2025.

There’s a virtual public meeting scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 29, where people can share feedback with Park Tucson.