For the past several months, City of Gainesville transportation staff has met with downtown business owners, employees and neighbors to balance the desire for free downtown parking at all hours with the need to increase parking availability during business hours.
A few changes are scheduled to take effect by Wednesday, June 1, and are effective Monday–Friday, 8 a.m.–5 p.m. They include:
- On-street parking spaces on the east and west sides of Southeast First Street, between University Avenue and Southeast First Avenue, have been converted from 2-hour free parking to 30-minute free parking.
- Parking in City Lots 3, 4, 5, and 13 has changed to a 4-hour time limit per space at $0.50/hour.
- Several short-term parking spaces on Southwest Second Street, near the Southwest Parking Garage, have been converted from 5-minute pick-up/drop-off spaces to a 2-hour time limit per space.
- Paid parking spaces on the first block of Southwest Fifth Terrace have been converted to 30-minute free parking.
- Employees of downtown businesses may purchase a discounted monthly permit for unlimited parking in the city’s Southwest Downtown Parking Garage at 105 SW Third St.
