Parking in downtown Raleigh to get more expensive for visitors and state employees
Parking in downtown Raleigh is going to get more expensive.
Rates are going up for state employees who drive to work, and they’ll lose their reserved spots, too. Beyond the thousands of state employees impacted, visitors who park for free in state government lots in the evenings and on weekends will started being charged after hours, not just during the business day. More parking lots will be open to the public.
Downtown Raleigh draws thousands of visitors on weekends for big events like festivals and parades.
The change is coming this summer after being voted on by the Council of State on Tuesday. The only member of the Council of State — made up of 10 statewide elected officials including the governor — to vote against any of the changes was Republican Labor Commissioner Luke Farley.
All 10 Council of State members are the top bosses of thousands of state employees.
The changes are effective July 1.
Why are parking rates going up?
The Department of Administration, which is under Democratic Gov. Josh Stein’s administration, requested the changes, citing efficiency initiatives. Mark Edwards, the agency’s chief deputy secretary, told the Council of State it would contribute to DOA costs for parking garage security and maintenance.
Existing parking rates are far below the market rate now. State employees pay $10 a month for parking lots and $15 a month for parking decks. Each option would go up by $5, to $15 and $20 a month, respectively.
The last rate increase was in 1979.
The parking lots and decks “have suffered from lack of investment in necessary infrastructure and safety upgrades including required elevator maintenance, proper signage, proper painting, security camera installation, and other items,” according to DOA.
Farley, the labor commissioner, asked that the two cost increases and reserved parking change be voted on separately by the Council of State. He voted against the increase in monthly parking for state employees. Everyone else voted in favor.
“It’s going to be charging them more for that privilege, and they may even be moving to a deck further away, so it’d be more expensive, less convenient, and unreserved. And so I can go along with the unreserved, but I’m concerned about raising fees, especially on state employees right now. It’s tough times for everybody, and so I’m not comfortable adding another fee to state employees at the moment,” Farley said.
Why eliminate state employee reserved parking spaces?
State employees have fewer places to park while the former Department of Administration site is under construction, and will lose more spots because of the N.C. Museum of History’s renovations.
That equals about 1,100 state employee parking spaces, which is 15% of total capacity, according to DOA.
Not all state workers in reserved spots come into work Monday through Friday, so unreserved parking frees up spaces at a time with there are fewer places to park. The Department of Administration building was demolished this past year, including its surface parking lot. In its place will be the North Carolina Education Campus, which is a project overseen by the General Assembly.
A DOA parking audit found that the majority of state employee parking spaces “are vacant on any given day primarily driven by hybrid work schedules.”
Edwards said that since they began the audit in September, there hasn’t been a single day when parking areas were at 50% capacity.
Farley called the change to unreserved parking “group punishment,” taking away reserved spots for those who do come to the office because of so many people who don’t come to the office. He voted for it, however, citing the need given that the state is losing parking spaces during construction.
“I just hope it works. This ain’t the time to give employees the reason to go somewhere else to work,” Agriculture Secretary Steve Troxler, a Republican, said during the meeting.
“I have 290 vacancies right now, so if this doesn’t work out, I’ll be back,” Troxler said. He’d also like to see a system that identifies available parking spaces in decks “so people won’t spend time running round and round and round trying to find a space.”
Troxler also wanted assurance that the money will actually fund safety upgrades. But Troxler and State Auditor Dave Boliek want to reassess the changes and review them later. Boliek said he’d like it to come back before the Council of State to show “it was the right thing to do.”
The new parking plan will assign employees to a specific lot or garage, but not a space. If the lot is full, they will be able to park in a visitor lot for free that day, Edwards said.
However, some high-ranking employees will keep their reserved spaces. The plan includes “limited exceptions for agency principals retaining their assigned spaces.”
What new parking is available for the public in downtown Raleigh?
The Department of Administration is also going to open more state-run parking lots and decks to the public at night and on weekends, but charge for the parking. The pricing will be decided by the secretary of the agency. There would be added costs to install parking fee machines in state employee-only lots.
Currently, visitor lots owned by the state charge the public during the business day until around 6 p.m., and state employee-only lots are not open to visitors at all.
Edwards said that his agency would like to keep parking gates down after hours in the public parking lots and decks for visitors, meaning that they would be soon be charged at night and on weekends.
On weekdays and weekends, visitor parking decks and surface lots around the Capitol, Legislative Building, NC Freedom Park, N.C. Museum of History, Executive Mansion and Museum of Natural Sciences are often full of visitors.
There are a few restaurants in walking distance nearby, including The Daily Planet Cafe and Longleaf Swine. Most street parking is metered and limited to two hours.
While the state will continue to charge for visitor parking during business hours and soon after hours as well, the City of Raleigh has extended its two hours of free parking policy in city-owned decks through December.
What Gov. Stein says about the changes
Stein, who oversees the Department of Administration, said going to unreserved parking saves employees from driving past empty parking spaces before they can park.
“I think people will feel better with the security upgrades that can happen with the increased revenue for this,” he said.
Stein said he’s heard “from a number of staff, particularly female staff, that ... no one likes parking in a poorly lit parking deck. So this will enable the state to have upgrades to enhance the safety.”
He said that while it’s an increase, it’s still a fraction of market-rate costs for parking in downtown Raleigh.
“So it remains an attractive benefit for state employees, even though the rates are going up. I can’t deny that, but I think the benefits are worthy,” he said.
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