After completing phase one of its parking lot updates, Bellefonte Borough is moving on to the next lot, hoping for this one to go much more quickly with fewer complications.
Construction has started at the lot across from CVS on High and Potter streets. The plan is to repave the lot, remove the meters and add kiosks like the ones recently installed in the Howard Street lot behind the YMCA, said borough assistant manager Don Holderman at a Sept. 10 joint meeting of Bellefonte Borough and Centre County.
The Howard Street lot was in bad disrepair and more work was needed than anticipated. The parking meters were removed to add maneuverability and kiosks were added that accept credit cards.
The lot near CVS looks to be completed by Friday, Oct. 26, in time for a fall festival at Talleyrand Park. The CVS will have just one kiosk.
With the changes, parking prices have increased. Customers used to pay 50 cents per hour for a parking space, but the new cost is $1 per hour. Holderman said the borough is not making much money from the price change, with the extra money going toward fees from credit cards and the cost of updating the lots.
“That is the direction that we are going because we see it everywhere else. That seems to be the way most be people want to pay. Most people aren’t carrying change. They would rather be able to pay with credit cards,” said Holderman.
The next phase would be to work on the lot behind the Waffle Shop, and Holderman said they hope to do that next year. It will be made similar to the other lots, with the removal of meters and the addition of kiosks. Following that, meters on the street will be replaced with kiosks over the next two years.
The total cost of the reconstruction of the two lots was $510,000. The lot on Howard Street was provided with the groundwork to provide electric-charging stations, and the other two lots will have the groundwork, too. This will allow for two electric-charging stations per lot, said Joanne Tosti-Varsey, borough council president. The borough is looking for partners to provide those kiosks.
The county also is adding additional parking to the lot behind Centre Crest.
“It is going to be behind the facility and the parking will enable additional parking for the staff, the people who volunteer their time throughout the facility and the friends and families of the folks who stay there, so it will be a benefit for that facility going forward,” said Chairman Commissioner Michael Pipe.
The county also is looking to improve a gravel lot on High Street that is used for courthouse staff. It has received an estimate and hopes to move forward soon with improvement. Pipe said there are concerns with storm water drainage in the lot and the safety of employees using it during the winter.
The county also is looking to add more handicap spots around the courthouse.
