You Can FINALLY Park Overnight in Downtown Denver

Denver Post  

Responding to what they called "a great deal of frustration" from downtown residents and business owners, Denver officials on Monday unveiled new signs and parking-meter stickers to coincide with a new overnight parking policy.

City engineers will swap out about 3,000 parking meters for programmable Smart Meters and install about 3,500 signs informing drivers that they can now pay to park their vehicles at a meter all night long, including from 2 to 6 a.m.

Parking-enforcement officials previously ticketed or towed vehicles parked during those times.

"It was simply impossible to do this until we got these new little Smart Meters," said Denver Mayor Bill Vidal.

The electronic meters will work in concert with a new street-sweeping schedule released by the Department of Public Works.

Downtown drivers can park their cars on one side of the street between 2 and 8 a.m. Mondays through Thursdays, when sweepers clean the other side. The meters will not allow drivers to pay for time if it conflicts with the sweeping schedule.

Both sides of the street will be available on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, while Sundays will remain free.

Well it's about freaking time.  Seriously...I never understood how this wasn't an option.  Especially with all the bars/clubs/restaurants downtown.  


I mean, here's the standard scenario:  People drive down and park for a couple hours to get dinner/go to a Rockies game/etc.  End up staying out and getting far too drunk to drive home.  


However, those Central Parking lots charge like $25 to park overnight, the Bcycle stations are already closed, RTD isn't running, and cabs are near impossible to get once the bars clear out.  So knowing full well that if they leave their car, it will get ticketed and towed, they end up driving home drunk and making Denver roads much more unsafe.   Potentially seriously injuring themselves or other people.


Sure you could argue that they could leave earlier, but we all know how the nights get away from us.


Seriously...didn't take a genius to figure out this was a problem.  Sometimes I think I should be Mayor.


Coss in 2012!