February 2018

Brunswick Square garage repairs call for hundreds of parking spaces in Saint John

by Deena S. Hawkins on February 28, 2018

March is moving month for hundreds of downtown Saint John motorists.

Starting next week, a section of the Brunswick Square parking lot will be closed for renovations that are expected to last until the end of October.

Up to 300 drivers who would normally buy monthly licenses will be affected by the closure. However, the garage will remain open for hourly parking.

CBC News spoke to several people heading to their cars after work on Tuesday, where accounts varied as to how and when they were made aware of the disruption.

There is a lot of movement, a lot of momentum, a lot of change.– Ian MacKinnon, Commissioner of Saint John Transit and Parking.

Some drivers only learned on Monday that they had to leave, while others, like Rose Johnston, have known it for several days.

She was told that a spot had been reserved for her at the Peel Plaza parking garage on Carleton Street.

“There is a girl and I in my office who are monthly mechanics,” she said. “And we both got the email probably two weeks ago. It was saying on March 2nd, hand in your card, you can get the new card for Peel. [Plaza]. “

Take risks elsewhere

Johnston, who has parked in Brunswick Square for 13 years, has decided to cancel his pass entirely.

In the past, Johnston said, she was forced out of the aging garage and will now try her luck elsewhere.

Lucky for her, she should have no trouble finding a new parking space.

JD Irving Ltd. recently opened a new parking lot on Elliott Row for its employees, creating 500 vacant spaces in 16 downtown lots.

“There’s a lot of movement, a lot of momentum, a lot of change,” said Ian MacKinnon, Commissioner of Saint John Transit and Parking.

Brunswick Square parking garage set to close for renovation

From March 1, a section of the Brunswick Square parking lot will be closed for renovations that are expected to last until the end of October. 0:30

The parking commission itself lost 380 monthly customers in several batches when the JDI garage portal opened.

MacKinnon said 125 of those cars were parked at Peel Plaza, the commission’s flagship garage.

But weeks after those commuters moved their cars, 140 Brunswick Square drivers are expected to move in on Thursday, taking up any remaining spaces allocated to monthly parking.

MacKinnon said there had also been “numerous” inquiries about space in other commission lots since the Brunswick Square renovations were announced.

About 300 monthly permit holders have been asked to leave the Brunswick Square parking lot to allow for renovations over the next nine months. (SRC)

Another change to the city’s parking scene will come when Irving Oil opens its new parking garage on King Street East.

The garage is intended to complement the new Irving home office building currently under construction near King’s Square.

Many of these office workers are also scattered over many parking lots in the city center.

“These Irving Oil parking lots are not part of the Saint John Parking Commission, but they certainly park in garages in the upscale neighborhood,” MacKinnon said.

“There will be a capacity of around 350 which will become free. So that will have an indirect impact on us.”

Parking garage

Automated parking garage opens in Oakland, California

by Deena S. Hawkins on February 27, 2018

Dive brief:

The Hive Parking Structure, a fully automated parking lot, opened Monday in Oakland, California. Built on an area of 1,600 square feet, the structure is 55 feet high and can accommodate 39 cars.
Drivers arrive at the garage and park in a reception area before pressing a button to indicate that everyone is out of the car. The garage then takes the unoccupied vehicle on a series of automatic transporters in the structure to find a place. To collect the car, drivers have to scan their ticket at an electronic machine, then wait for it to be returned to them automatically.
Oakland-based CityLift Parking and developer Signature Development Group teamed up for the garage, which officials said used 69% less building materials per parking space than regular garages. In a statement, Signature Development Group president Mike Ghielmetti said the garage was “cost effective and environmentally friendly.”

Dive overview:

While this may be the first fully automated parking lot in Northern California, it’s not the first in the country or the world, although this latest opening represents the latest expansion in technology.

Already, similar structures exist in parts of New Jersey and in West Hollywood, California, where the city has saved more than a million dollars by installing a free-standing garage that can hold up to three times as many cars as a regular garage, according to Wired.

In an interview with Wired, Unitronics CEO Yair Goldberg, whose company installed the West Hollywood garage, said the structure reduces noise and emissions because car engines don’t run, and the fact that people don’t need to get in and out of cars in tight spaces meaning they can pack more vehicles. “What it does, it takes out all the turning radius, all the ramps, all the clearances for people to be able to walk in here or open their doors,” Goldberg said.

Building automated parking garages saves both space and money, as they are often cheaper to build and can hold two or three times as many cars as regular garages. In a statement, CityLift Parking CEO Scott Gable said the lack of land available for such structures means businesses need to think differently. “As land in the US urban core becomes scarce, automated parking solutions are the most cost-effective and efficient way for developers and public agencies to meet parking requirements in increasingly smaller footprints.” , did he declare.

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Parking spaces

Downtown developments eliminate hundreds of parking spaces

by Deena S. Hawkins on February 8, 2018

Since December 2016, downtown Oakland has lost hundreds of parking spots.

One garage closed due to seismic safety concerns and another was demolished to make way for a 400-foot tower. While another city-run garage is to be demolished, hundreds of additional spaces are expected to be removed.

With two BART stations, the area is very accessible to public transport, but parking was already limited before the garages closed.

The first to go was a municipal garage at 1414, rue Clay in December 2016. The 335-space structure was found to be seismically dangerous, so it was closed and traffic diverted to two other garages: the Dalziel garage in the basement of 250 Frank Ogawa Plaza and the City Center West garage in the 1239 Jefferson St.

So far, it’s unclear what the city might do with the Clay Street site.

About a year later, the three levels Parking garage for downtown merchants (1314 Franklin St.) was demolished, eliminating 520 other spaces. The structure will be replaced with a 400-foot tower consisting of 634 residential units, 17,000 square feet of retail space and 600 new parking spaces.

A 400-foot tower is planned on the site of the old downtown merchant parking garage.

Another city-run garage may also close soon; the Telegraph Plaza parking lot at 2100 Telegraph Ave. should be demolished once construction of a planned tower there begins.

This tower, called east line, would include 800,000 square feet of office space, 388 residential units and 85,000 square feet of retail space, according to developers Lane Partners and Strategic Urban Development Alliance.

The developers said any project should include provisions to replace the existing parking lot. Although the project’s website says construction could begin this year, it’s unclear how the developers would replace the parking lot.

The parking lot has also become narrower in other ways. A recent restructuring of Telegraph Avenue to include buffered bike lanes removed 39 on-street parking spaces, but the city added 22 parking meters on side streets to reduce that impact.

According to a January 2017 report from the Oakland Department of Transportation, the addition of bicycle lanes along the Telegraph between 20th and 29th Streets has boosted local merchants as sales tax revenue in the corridor has increased by ‘year after year.

Overall, the city has made an effort to encourage other means of transportation to the city center, not only by BART and bicycle, but through new car and bicycle sharing programs. Ford GoBike sharing started rolling out in Oakland last July and AAA launched a one-way carsharing service, Concert car sharing, in Oakland and Berkeley last April.

Despite the DOT report, some downtown retailers have reported that they are having difficulty, but at least one company is offering incentives for customers who cycle. Feelmore Adult Gallery (1703 Telegraph Ave.) has offered 10 percent off for cyclists over the past three years, according to owner Nenna Joiner.

Feelmore Adult Gallery offers discounts to cyclists.

“Feelmore has already been the subject of more than eight construction projects since opening, directly affecting our business with the loss of parking spaces right in front of our business,” Joiner said.

“We know the frustration the change brings,” she added, “but we also want to reward the people who take the time to shop with us during the Oakland transformation.”