Downtown Salem will nix free street parking later this summer
PORTLAND, Ore. () — Later this summer, Oregon's capital is dialing back on free parking.
As of July 10, street parking will no longer be free in Salem's downtown district. Officials plan to begin installing pay stations, which will charge drivers $1.50 per hour, next month.
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The change is part of officials' efforts to boost revenue for the city and increase the number of available spaces — similar to r.
'Metered parking allows downtown Salem to generate revenue that can be used to provide important city services,' the City of Salem . 'It also helps keep parking available for visitors to downtown businesses. Paid parking reduces how long people can park in an on-street parking space, thus freeing up the space more frequently for new customers.'
Officials additionally claimed the changes will benefit Salem's Climate Action Plan by reducing the traffic congestion that comes with searching for a parking spot.
The current 3-hour free parking will be replaced with metered spots that allow drivers to pay for up to 12 hours at a time. The new pay stations will ask users for their license plate numbers, which enforcement officers will later use to confirm the allotted time hasn't expired. Drivers can also download the yet-to-come Beep Beep Salem app to pay online.
The current free, on-street spaces are covered by local businesses that pay a Downtown Parking Tax. Despite the upcoming changes, the tax is expected to stay in place for at least a year, according to Interim City Manager Krishna Namburi.
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'We need to have about a year of crossover to fund operations,' Namburi told officials during Tuesday's Salem City Council meeting. 'When you put the parking meters into play, you're not going to be having a year's worth of operational revenue in July when they're deployed, which is what the parking tax provides.'
She said officials could likely remove the parking tax at a later date. The downtown parking structures owned by the City of Salem will remain free to the public.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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