Downtown business owners expressed overwhelming approval of the 27 additional parking spaces around Capitol Square at Tuesday night's joint meeting of the Transit and Parking Commission and the Pedestrian-Bicycle-Motor Vehicle Commission.
Local business owners assured the committees that the additional parking options have brought a welcomed vitality to the commercial district surrounding the Capitol, supporting their sentiment with a stack of letters submitted to the committee in favor of the additional parking. The city added the extra spaces last January, as part of a pilot program to return public parking to the Capitol Square.
Jim Bradley, President of Home Savings Bank highlighted, \convenience, accessibility and visibility"" as top priorities to customers regarding parking availibilites close to their intended shopping destinations.
""You can imagine the convenience of having the ability to run in and out and the security of going to the front door and then directly to [your] car,"" Bradley said.
Patrons of all ages will benefit from the increased parking around Capitol Square. ""Older people are coming back, delighted to have a place to park,"" said Peg Scholtes, owner of Capitol Kids, a store on the Square.
A grievance many drivers face during Farmer's Market season is the traffic congestion downtown on Saturdays. Larry Johnson, representing the Dane County Farmer's Market, said there had been several complications involving the Saturday parking situation, citing that bags were not provided to cover parking meters, but instead had to be purchased from the city. Additionally, when the responsibility to cover parking meters was uncertain, the meters were sometimes left uncovered, causing customer confusion on whether parking was appropriate.
""Congestion on Saturday is not the result of parking,"" said Rosemary Lee, a downtown resident. Lee reminisced back to 1959 when ""there was solid retail all around the Square. You could buy anything you needed.""
""We need to keep parking downtown."" Responding to the occasional traffic congestion that evening rush hour or a busy Saturday morning brings, Lee said, ""It's a small price to pay to live downtown in my city.""
