CHARLESTON, SC (WCSC) - Changes are coming to the way people park in downtown Charleston.
The Charleston City Council will get a first look Tuesday night at the city’s new parking study.
The study outlines the key times people are parking in downtown Charleston and what options could help alleviate parking issues.
“One of the things that came out of the study is we have enough parking but how do we unlock that parking so it’s as accessible as parking, especially for our residents and for our workers,” said Keith Benjamin, the director of Parking and Transportation for the city.
“The other piece was connections between mobility and parking and make sure we are prioritizing other modes of transportation whether that’s ferry service, ride share, or its walking, or biking or transit we help on our parking crunch,” Benjamin said.
The study outlines ways the city can let people know what parking is available to them, and where it is.
It outlines ways to use technology to create street space detection systems and interactive options for paying to park.
If the plans are implemented there would also be additional positions for the parking department and consolidated parking management.
The plan outlines hundreds of thousands of dollars would be needed to add bike lanes, transit vehicles, transportation managers, and other necessary mechanisms to get the plan up and running.
It also highlights a need for more transit options, outlining a strong appetite for a better transit system service on the peninsula.
It didn’t have options for a funding source listed for this. The last Charleston parking study was conducted in 1988.
All the plans will go before city council and it will have to approve all potential plans before it is implemented.
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