If you park in Downtown Grand Rapids, starting Thursday, September 1st, you will notice that rates at the meters and the parking ramps will be higher than usual.

According to MLive, rates are increasing by more than 100%! Currently, the lots west of US-131 (Area 7, 8, and 9) are the cheapest in the city at $27/month but will go up to $48 per month. They will continue to be the least expensive parking lots.

The lots south of the Van Andel Arena (Area 2, 3, 4, and 5) will more than double to $112/month from $43. Two of those lots, though, will eventually be gone to make room for the movie theater complex that will be built starting next summer.

The parking near City Hall and, government-owned ramps, will remain at $149.

You'll be able to continue to park 60 minutes for free at the Monroe Center ramp before 6 p.m. But all the ramps, will go up to $1.25/half hour for short-term parking.

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Price of meters will go up depending on the location.

  • 50¢ or 75¢ → $1/hour
  • $1.25 → $1/50/hour

You can see all the new parking rates at a chart here.

 

So why all the parking changes? On the city's parking department website they say they are trying to:

...modernize its public parking and local transit systems to make getting around downtown easier than ever. The objective is to preserve the urban character of downtown while ensuring accessibility."

In addition, the city, the downtown district and Mobile GR have teamed up with The Rapid to create a "Park Once" District. This means you'll park once and then be able to take public transportation, for free, wherever you want go downtown. This will include expanding the DASH and Silver Line buses. The no-fare service will run on weekdays but not holidays. Weekends aren't mentioned on the website.

You can also download two apps (GR Park and myStop Mobile) that will help guide you through downtown and parking.

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