Food & Drink
Parking on Capitol Hill Might Cost More During Your Next Night Out
Say goodbye to free parking after 8 p.m.
By Michael Rietmulder October 10, 2017
It was a beautiful move. Sliding into a hard-to-come-by parking spot on Capitol Hill just in time for that 7:30 p.m. dinner res. You feed the meter until 8 p.m., when they shut off for the night, and anchor your car there (for free) while you make the rounds for after-dinner drinks or a show. But no more.
Starting later this month, Capitol Hill parking meters will be enforced until 10 p.m., reports the Capitol Hill Seattle blog. Through studies and data, the Seattle Department of Transportation confirmed what anyone who goes out in the city’s top nightlife neighborhood already knew: that parking spots are still at a premium late into the evening.
In charging during those additional hours, the idea is to create more turnover on those coveted street spots, while still giving folks the option of leaving their car in one place if they’re willing to pony up the extra cash. In conjunction with the move, SDOT will adjust meter rates in various places on the Hill.
Per the CHS blog—which recently returned from a bit of a hiatus—rates along the north end of Broadway will actually drop to $4 an hour (down from $4.50) during those late-night hours. On the street’s south end and along Pike and Pine streets, nighttime parking will be $3 an hour.
SDOT tells the blog it will take roughly three weeks to make the meter changes and the new rates should be in place everywhere by mid-November. So, enjoy the free late-night parking while you can. But maybe the rate changes, which are part of a citywide restructuring, will cut down on the 58 miserable hours a year we spend looking for parking.