This afternoon the city is
releasing the on-street parking plan for the streets in Southeast and Southwest near the ballpark, and
here it is. There's a press conference in the mayor and other officials at 3 pm, so more will be revealed, but on my
Stadium Parking and Transporation page you can now see which streets are considered "residential" with enhanced protections and which ones will have the new variable-rate meters.
* On the residential streets (marked in purple on the
map), parking restrictions will be in effect from
7 am to midnight seven days a week. One side of the street will be for residents with Zone 6 parking permits only, and non-Zone 6 cars can be ticketed immediately. On the other side of the street, non-Zone 6 cars can park for two hours.
* On "retail" streets (marked in red), multispace meters will be installed that will have varying costs to park based on the time of day, and the price will escalate as the amount of time you park grows, in order to make it a better deal to park in an off-street lot for a long period of time rather than using up a metered space.
* There will be visitor passes mailed out (one per household).
Read the text beneath
the map for more explanations of these different zones.
What the meters will charge, and what the fines will be for violating any of these parking restrictions, were not spelled out with the map. Perhaps that is coming at the press conference. I'll be back to update with additional news as I get it.
If you live in Southwest, or on Capitol Hill, or in Near Southeast,
pass this page to your neighbors. If you're a Nats fan thinking about scavenging for on-street parking, look at this map to understand that you won't be getting it on any of the colored streets without risking a ticket (or maybe even getting towed). So click on the
Take Metro! tab to get information on your transit options (including distances to stations other than Navy Yard, bus routes, and additional information).
UPDATE: Nope, no specifics from the press conference on meter rates or fines if you overstay; that will all come after the council (presumably) passes on March 4 the legislation that gives the mayor the authority to set rates. Also, there's a slightly updated map on my
on-street parking page--dotted-purple streets have been added, which will get the same protection as solid purple streets, but not by Opening Day. And here's
Tommy Wells's press release on the plan. There was a fair amount of media at the announcement, so I'll link to their reports as they come in.
UPDATE II: Here's
News4's report (and
video). It addresses the safety issue as well: "Officials said there will be a heavy police presence in the area on game days to ensure traffic and pedestrian safety."
UPDATE III: The Post writes on the
curbside parking plan, and also mentions that the Nationals say "all season ticket holders who wanted parking spaces have gotten them or are in the process of getting them. The team is trying to determine how many spaces might be available to fans without season tickets." And, after ignoring the
Take Metro mantra,
Marc Fisher finally figures out that, gee, maybe driving to the ballpark isn't such a good idea. Apparently the Nationals' media push urging fans to use transit will begin next week, and they now have a
Way to Go web site.