Drivers have yet to find Kelowna’s newest parking spaces

KELOWNA – Can’t find a parking spot during the day in downtown Kelowna? You’re just not looking in the right place, according to city parking manager Dave Duncan.

While city is still putting the finishing touches on the Library and Memorial Parkades, they’ve been almost fully operational since May and have yet to reach capacity.

“They haven’t been full yet,” Duncan says. “Even on Canada Day it wasn’t well used. People haven’t figured out it’s there yet.”

Duncan says it’s taken time for people to realize there’s now 139 public stalls available weekdays in the $20-million Memorial Parkade and the Libary Parkade has also expanded its public parking offerings.

“It’s time restricted on the lower floors so it pushed the long term parkers higher up but people are only just starting to use the top floor,” he adds. “It’s not really a matter of of you can’t find parking, it’s the mentality of demanding it be right outside the front door. We are a growing city and that might not always be possible anymore."

Signboards giving real time parking space availability will soon be installed at both parkades. Staff are also looking to eventually push that information to the city’s website, Duncan adds.

Despite adding hundreds of new parking stalls over the last two years, Duncan says the city is about to update its downtown parking plan and try to stay ahead of the strong growth the city is experiencing.

While no new parkade site has been publicly identified, Duncan says engineers will consider the possibility of adding new levels to the Chapman Parkade on Lawrence Avenue, although he cautions it may be cost prohibitive.

“Our first goal is to make best use of our current inventory,” he adds.

To that end, the city will beging occupancy and turnover counts in high-traffic areas of downtown.

"If a car is sitting in front of a retail store for seven hours, in a prime spot, that’s not the best use of the space. We need to know that so we can make changes,” he adds.


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John McDonald

John began life as a journalist through the Other Press, the independent student newspaper for Douglas College in New Westminster. The fluid nature of student journalism meant he was soon running the place, learning on the fly how to publish a newspaper.

It wasn’t until he moved to Kelowna he broke into the mainstream media, working for Okanagan Sunday, then the Kelowna Daily Courier and Okanagan Saturday doing news graphics and page layout. He carried on with the Kelowna Capital News, covering health and education while also working on special projects, including the design and launch of a mass market daily newspaper. After 12 years there, John rejoined the Kelowna Daily Courier as editor of the Westside Weekly, directing news coverage as the Westside became West Kelowna.

But digital media beckoned and John joined Kelowna.com as assistant editor and reporter, riding the start-up as it at first soared then went down in flames. Now John is turning dirt as city hall reporter for iNFOnews.ca where he brings his long experience to bear on the civic issues of the day.

If you have a story you think people should know about, email John at jmcdonald@infonews.ca

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