Parking in downtown Grand Rapids can be a bit of a nightmare for people, and if you're one of the people who has spent significant time driving around downtown GR trying to find a parking spot, you are not alone.

In a meeting held last week, the city's parking situation was discussed at length by Mobile GR manager Josh Naramore, and it turns out, as it stands now, city parking is currently 95% with monthly parkers. The city implemented some changes in September, and they've helped slightly.

Naramore noted while those changes did yield some alleviation of the city’s parking swell, the sacrifice of about 600 spots to make way for the development of a mixed-use movie theater complex has the city nearing capacity.

While that theater complex is being built (beginning this summer) downtown GR will lost about 600 parking spaces. The two parking lots south of Van Andel Arena where the theater will be will be shut down. The good news is that when construction of the theater is complete, it will feature a 900 space parking structure.

Naramore told the crowd at the meeting that the city IS working to create more spaces. The plan currently is to develop more surface lots (which are faster and cheaper to develop than parking structures.) Currently, there are plans in the works to build a lot across from the Grand Rapids Downtown Market, if it's approved by the city planning commision.

[Source: WZZM-13]

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