Parking enforcement officers will be on patrol in the River Market District of downtown Little Rock all this week to make sure drivers abide by new pay rules when they park.
From now on, parking on the street in the River Market costs $1.25 per hour. Jack Wrenn oversees parking enforcement efforts for the city. He says eight new machines will help regulate on-street parking issues.
“We have pay-and-display meters where you pay for the [amount of] time you want to park, up to two hours, and you get a receipt which you display in your car to show that you paid in order to park in the River Market,” said Wrenn. “If you’re parking on the streets; specifically Pres. Clinton Avenue, the 100-block of River Market Avenue, or the 100-block of Sherman, there is signage up showing those areas are pay-and-display zones and the machines are marked so you know where to pay.”
Cars that have not paid and do not have a receipt displayed on the dashboard will receive a warning this week, but on October 14th tickets and fines will be issued for noncompliance.
Wrenn says the new machines take credit and debit cards, as well as coins. The money collected by the meters will be used to make improvements in the River Market.
“When using a credit card on these machines, you don’t swipe your card, like at a gas station,” Wrenn said. “You insert the card and leave it in there while the machine reads it. The machine then tells you when to remove the card and your receipt comes out in the tray below.”
With the new parking system, people will only be allowed to park on the street for up to two hours so that other drivers will have a chance to use those spaces.
