Read the signs, people! You don't have to plug the meters on Saturday or Sunday in Downtown Milwaukee.
I posted a similar blog two years ago, but it's time for a reminder.
The parking signs (see above) may not be the most straightforward signs in the world, but if you ignore the top portion (the "Monday through Friday" language) you will notice that the bottom portion does not contain the word "meter."
For example, a two-hour sign says, "2 HOUR PARKING 8:00 AM TO 6:00 PM SATURDAY." The top of this same sign reads, "2 HOUR METER PARKING 8:00 AM TO 6:00 PM MONDAY THRU FRIDAY."
This means that you don't have to plug the meters on Saturdays. But if you park at a single street spot for more than two hours you might get a ticket. And, a friendly reminder, Sundays are always free at all metered spots in the city.
The City tells me that the new Luke meters (the programmable ones) won't even accept your money on the weekends. This is good.
Says Cindy Angelos at the City, "The Luke multi-space meters provide an advantage to those persons who park their vehicles on-street in the morning before the legislated time when they are required to pay. Most meters downtown go into effect at 8 a.m. There are workers who park their vehicles as early as 6 a.m. or 7 a.m. or anytime before 8 a.m. By having this pre-pay feature, a person can insert his/her $1.50 per hour in the meter at anytime before 8am, including after business hours the day or Friday before. However, the money isn't "used" until 8 a.m. when the amount he/she inserts begins to tick down. This is a distinct advantage for those who arrive early and don't have to leave their office/gym/ restaurant/church to plug a meter at 8 a.m.. The Luke meters, however, are unable to be programmed to only offer this service at say 6 a.m. Either they are programmed to allow pre-payment or they are not. If DPW turned off this feature, no one would be able to pre-pay, causing many early-bird workers a great inconvenience"
But, I still see way too many people plugging the traditional meters on Saturdays and Sundays. Don't. "The single space meters will accept coin on Saturdays and Sundays in the Downtown, even though people don't have to put money in," Cecilia Gilbert, permit and communications manager told me.
Gilbert reinforced what I'm telling you, "The most important message is that people need to read the signage where they park," she added.
Honeslty, I just want our Downtown to be as user friendly as possible. So consider this a friendly outreach message. Happy parkers = happy visitors and residents.
You're welcome.
A life-long and passionate community leader and Milwaukeean, Jeff Sherman is a co-founder of OnMilwaukee.
He grew up in Wauwatosa and graduated from Marquette University, as a Warrior. He holds an MBA from Cardinal Stritch University, and is the founding president of Young Professionals of Milwaukee (YPM)/Fuel Milwaukee.
Early in his career, Sherman was one of youngest members of the Greater Milwaukee Committee, and currently is involved in numerous civic and community groups - including board positions at The Wisconsin Center District, Wisconsin Club and Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. He's honored to have been named to The Business Journal's "30 under 30" and Milwaukee Magazine's "35 under 35" lists.
He owns a condo in Downtown and lives in greater Milwaukee with his wife Stephanie, his son, Jake, and daughter Pierce. He's a political, music, sports and news junkie and thinks, for what it's worth, that all new movies should be released in theaters, on demand, online and on DVD simultaneously.
He also thinks you should read OnMilwaukee each and every day.
