Mpls: Uptown To Get Smart Parking Meters
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Like Downtown before it, Uptown will get new solar-powered, credit-card friendly parking stations.
In a press release, Minneapolis officials said hundreds of smart stations will replace the old coin-only stations in Uptown. The city hopes that by March 21, 34 smart stations will be up and running along Lake Street, Lagoon Avenue, Hennepin Avenue and other nearby streets in the heart of Uptown.
Until the smart stations are put in, drivers should continue to use the coin-only meters.
Uptown's coming stations will join the 350 other smart stations in Downtown. The city says its plans call for 175 addition stations around Minneapolis. By fall, the city hopes its old meters will have been replaced.
The smart stations have numerous advantages, according to the city. Besides making it easier on those who do not always have change, the stations also make work easier for city employees. The acceptance of credit cards makes it so that they don't have to unload change as often, and since only one station is placed on each side of the block, city workers don't have as many machines to take money from.
Service calls made to replace the stations' batteries are also reduced due to the fact the batteries are solar powered.
