Proposed changes to parking in Liverpool city centre include an end to free parking after 6pm. Tony McDonough reports
Drivers parking in Liverpool city centre after 6pm will no longer be able to do so for free under new proposals.
Liverpool City Council has launched a month-long consultation around on-street parking in what is called the Controlled Parking Zone (CPZ) in the city centre. Currently, on-street parking is restricted by law between 8am and 6pm in the CPZ.
Under the new proposals this window would be extended to 7am to 11pm. Under the consultation, which has started this week, the council will ask members of the public, businesses, residents and commuters for their views. CPZ changes include:
- Creating one single CPZ by combining the existing Inner and Outer Zones.
- Creating 14 smaller sub zones within the CPZ to improve operation.
- Standardising the parking times for pay and display bays to a maximum stay of two hours, with no return within one hour.
- Introducing a tariff increase of 10p per half hour for on-street pay and display bays.
These proposals are aimed at modernising on-street car parking. The authority says it wants to future-proof the “environmental resilience” of the city centre. It aims to reduce congestion, improve air quality and improve safety and journey times.
Cllr Liam Robinson, Cabinet Member for Neighbourhood Services, said: “Since the introduction of the existing CPZ in 1995, Liverpool city centre has gone through a multi-billion pound transformation.
READ MORE: River of Light attracts 250,000 people
“From the Kings Dock, Liverpool ONE and the Baltic Triangle right up to the city’s Cultural and Knowledge Quarters the city centre has changed beyond recognition. It’s population has also grown massively over the past 20 years with more than 35,000 residents living here. This brings additional pressures to parking spaces.
“These new developments, as well as the boom in our night time economy, have radically changed where people go and visit, and how they get there.
“The city council has helped guide these changes and introduced new pedestrianised areas and new off-street car parks, which have all resulted in an increased demand in on-street parking within the city centre.
“Naturally all these changes have placed new pressures on our highways capacity and available road space.
“This has led to traffic congestion, unsafe parking practices, short commuter journeys by car, long-stay use of on-street parking bays and overall, creating a poor environment for all city centre users.”
An online survey has been created to inform the consultation – click here – and takes approximately five minutes to complete.
People can also email their views to: parkingconsult@liverpool.gov.uk or write to: Parking Services (CPZ Parking Survey), Liverpool City Council, Cunard Building, Water Street, Liverpool, L3 1AH. Closing date for responses is 5pm on Monday, December 12.
Current on-street parking charges in the CPZ:
- Up to 30 minutes – £1.20
- Up to 1 hour – £2.40
- Up to 1 hour 30 minutes – £3.60
- Up to 2 hours – £4.80
- Up to 4 hours (max stay) – £6