Thayer St. businesses urging parking meters to go

July 15, 2016 6:41 pm

By: Rebecca Turco

Email: rturco@abc6.com

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Nearly 60 business owners on Thayer Street in Providence signed a petition, demanding the mayor remove the parking meters there.

Real estate developer Kenneth Dulgarian, who owns two blocks of properties along the street, circulated the petition. He says several businesses have seen a reduction in 40 to 70 percent of sales since the parking meters were installed more than a year ago. Two stores left as a direct result.

"Let’s do a mid-course correction change, let’s get it solved and let’s do business,” Dulgarian said.

The meters cost $1.25 per hour and you can park for up to 3 hours.

The mayor was not available to speak with ABC6 News Friday but the director of the Department of Public Works, Russell Knight, says the meters actually encourage a steady flow of shoppers, who use 60 to 80 percent of the street’s meters on average at any given time, some of the highest rates in the city.

"There’s turnover,” he explained. “People are coming and going and getting through Thayer Street in a more numerous fashion."

Knight says the meters are here to say. "We want to work with the businesses to make it more conducive for businesses to be here in the city of Providence,” he said. “So the meters, we feel, helps in that."

Dulgarian tells ABC6 News he is ready to take legal action if it comes down to it.

Meanwhile, city officials are studying whether parking meters should be installed along another popular shopping destination: Wickendon Street.