News

Jun 10, 2023

From River Market to Plaza, KC rolls out 7

Kansas Citians will soon have to pay to park in Kansas City’s popular

Kansas Citians will soon have to pay to park in Kansas City's popular entertainment districts, including River Market and Power and Light, seven days a week.

The city began to introduce seven-day paid street parking regulations in February to help turn over parking spots in the city's busier neighborhoods, said Public Works Director Michael Shaw. That means no free parking on weekends and nights.

The new rules will eventually be citywide, but for now, the new regulations can be found in areas near the City Market, which welcomes nearly 600,000 people each year, and already have blocks that require drivers to pay for parking every day of the week.

The city plans to expand the new rules to popular areas like Power and Light, the Crossroads, Westport, 39th Street and The Plaza

"Parking on the street is a premium," Shaw said.

Current parking regulations typically require people to pay from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. The new seven-day paid parking rules will be enforced for nearly 24 hours, seven days a week, Shaw said. The new regulations will not change current parking rates.

"It's about turning parking spots so that people can come in and visit these businesses. If you’re going to be there all day, it's cheaper to go park in the garage so that people who are on shorter visits can come in and visit and leave," Shaw said.

There are nearly 40,000 free parking spots in Kansas City, Shaw said. There are eight municipal lots citywide that people can also park in, many of which cost $25 or less for daily parking and offer monthly parking.

"It's about behavior modification, it's about saying, ‘Hey, if you’re gonna park there all day, go to a garage. Pay your freight," Shaw said, adding that new rules will make parking regulations across the city more consistent.

"We want to clean it up to make it easier, more efficient, and simpler to follow," he said.

Shaw said the decision to move to seven-day paid street parking is not about making more money, but extra revenue can help the city better maintain streets and potentially add more parking structures.

"Under no circumstances does parking pay for itself," Shaw said.

"When you’re parking on a street, there's actually a cost to maintain that street, the curb and all that goes along with (it) and so not getting the revenue to cover those expenses is a challenge."

Money made from the meters goes back to the city's general fund and do not go directly back to the public works department's parking division.

Shaw said it's unclear how long it will take before the rules are implemented but residents can expect to see the new regulations throughout the city in the near future.