Town officials say a widely anticipated and major change to downtown parking is taking effect this week.
As of Monday, parking in the heart of New Canaan’s business district—the one-way stretch of Elm Street and South Avenue between Elm and Cherry Street—is switching from free to paid.
At the same time, the Park Street Lot is changing from metered/paid to free (with a three-hour limit), and the town has designated a number of free 15-minute parking spaces along Park Street itself, according to a press release from the municipality.
“Change is never easy,” First Selectman Dionna Carlson said in the release. “These parking updates reflect many months of community input and thoughtful planning. We know it will take time to adjust, but our goal is to make downtown more accessible, less congested and even more enjoyable for everyone. We appreciate the community’s patience and partnership as we move forward together.”
Town officials have long discussed the incongruity of offering the most coveted parking spaces in downtown New Canaan for free while charging for parking in lots further out. One problem that has emerged, officials say, is that—despite the two-hour parking limit (which remains in place)—those who work in offices, stores and restaurants downtown have been taking up many of the spaces that rightly should go to shoppers and diners.
The problem has persisted despite a successful “business permit” program where downtown business owners can get some free parking for their employees at lots including Morse Court, Center School and Locust Avenue.
It’s been more than one year since Carlson floated a plan to finally flip-flop the paid and free parking, and the town has kept the public abreast of the changes in recent months. Slender, solar-powered pay-by-plate machines are now located along Elm and South, and the town is working toward offering the most popular apps for motorists to use.
The parking changes are “designed to reduce congestion and improve traffic flow in the vibrant downtown district and improve the overall visitor experience,” the press release said.
The town is also planning to improve a loading zone behind Elm Street to draw delivery trucks off of the main drag.
Updated parking maps can be found here.
Thanks, Dionna – a great idea and about time (says an unaffiliated voter with a permanent disability tag on her car.)
How will Handicapped parking be treated?
The town leadership has given full disclosure and very thorough public notice about these overdue improvements to our downtown parking situation.
It warrants our patience and appreciation.
Agree. Let’s give it a chance. Less clogging of Elm Street would be nice.
Is the paid parking 24/7? No option for example, free parking after 6:00pm?
The parking enforcement hours have NOT changed. Mon – Sat 9 am – 5 pm. Parking remains free Evenings, Sundays and Holidays.
There are no visible signs regarding hours. I had to push the button on the pay machine where it said 9-5 weekdays. There should be enforcement signs visible on the posts with the pay information at the curbs.
For me, this was always a great idea to begin with (going back years ago).
But huge kudos to our wonderful First Selectman Dionna Carlson for finally pushing this initiative forward and getting it done.
I realize it’s a bit of a new change (and a bit confusing), but please understand it opens up the largest new free parking lot in New Canaan in recent history.
Bottom line. Good government using common sense to move this incredible town forward.
Can you use an app, or is only “buy a ticket”?
You can use the same app that we have always used which is PayByPhone. Very soon we will be adding Park Mobile and Passport – all three are the main vendors for parking apps. You can also use coin and credit/debit card. Hope that helps!
This direction to align cost to value via concentric zones of parking was proposed each year under Keith Richey’s tenure on the Parking commission. The recommendation was driven by the wide pool of research on the topic. Kudos to this selectmen leadership team for taking this leap. For those interested, this book; ‘The High Cost of Free Parking’ speaks to the market approach. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_High_Cost_of_Free_Parking
Hey Chris,
I’m surprised that you’ve read the High Cost of Free Parking! Great book. I wish you had read it before you voted yes on the St. Luke’s parking structure in 2024. It’s odd that someone familiar with research on parking or human behavior would vote to put a 200 car parking structure in a residential zone under the pretense of reducing traffic, as it’s true that an abundance of free parking creates traffic.
So you’re Pro-free parking for private school students but against it for everyone else?
Happy to chat offline if your views on this have evolved.
Sarah did you also know NC
Taxpayers pay for bussing
For private schools per the state
Of CT — interesting 🤔
On the parking garage how
Did P&Z ok that and our schools
Don’t have unsightly parking garages next to town residents
Thank you Chris. Great point. For those who knew him, not surprising that Keith was quite often ahead of everyone else on issues such as this. Tremendous volunteer servant for our town who will be (actually already is) greatly missed.
It’s unfortunate that the RTC chose not to support Keith’s candidacy during the 2023 Republican Caucus for Town Council, just as they withheld support from Kim Norton in this year’s caucus. Both outstanding candidates deeply committed to serving our town.
The RTC is infrastructure. They don’t decide who to endorse. They run the Republican caucus as a neutral party. The caucus voters decide who gets endorsed.
Keith was a wonderful man and would have made a good Town Council member. The Republican caucus voters preferred other candidates.
Anyone with even a passing interest in the ‘slates’ of Republican candidates put forward since 2021 knows this isn’t true. Just own it.