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Some downtown workers paying A LOT more to park!
Some downtown workers paying A LOT more to park!
MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- If you're parking in one part of the city -- you're about to feel the pinch! Thousands of downtown workers are paying more to park -- with some shelling out 60% to 80% more!
Those affected are parking in a portion of Milwaukee's Third Ward.
"It was $3, and then it jumped to $5 daily," a downtown worker told FOX6 News.
"Seems since the Hoan Bridge project has started, all of a sudden this is happening," Douglas Bellows said.
Some who work downtown estimate hundreds, if not thousands of parking spaces under the Hoan Bridge construction project have been off limits for safety reasons -- so the number of parking spaces available has dwindled -- but the demand has not.
"We're not getting executive salaries, and $100 is a lot," Bellows said.
Bellows parks in the affected area and works nearby.
He says he'll pay an additional $50 a month -- or $600 a year in parking, and it's not just affecting those who park in the lot he parks in.
"It seems like when one raises their price, the others follow shortly thereafter," Bellows said.
Lot owner Nick Gagliano says while the increases in parking prices seem steep, for the last 20 years, daily rates were around $2.00 and failed to keep pace with the increase in property taxes and other business expenses, and says he's raised rates in line with about 10 nearby lots -- including the Italian Community Center.
Gagliano calls the rate hikes competitive pricing -- but those who park downtown are concerned there are elements of collusion.
"If you talk to the lot owners I think they don't like it either. Well a few of them don`t," one downtown worker said.
Some might call this the cost of doing business -- but others say it's just too costly.
"I guess it's the price you pay for working downtown. Taking the bus may be an option," a downtown worker said.
FOX6 News reached out to two other lot owners for comment on this story -- but messages were not returned.
The lot owner we did speak with says this demonstrates the need for additional lots in the area.
When asked if rates would go down when the Hoan Bridge construction project is completed, the lot owner we spoke with said he doesn't know.