The Forks (FILE)
WINNIPEG — It’s no longer free to park your vehicle in the parkade at The Forks.
Meters were quietly installed last week in the four-storey parkade, which previously offered visitors three hours of free parking.
The cost is now $1 per half hour for a three-hour maximum. Meters will be in effect from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., seven days a week.
“We have looked at the increasing costs for running The Forks, offering free programming and achieving our Target Zero initiatives,” said Chelsea Thomson with The Forks North Portage Partnership in an email to ChrisD.ca.
“As we are a community development corporation and parking is our major source of revenue it is one way in which we can continue to achieve our goals of remaining financially self-sufficient while offering the city’s number one destination.”
Parking will remain free for visitors on the second level with a valid disability permit and families with small children.
A meter was installed for a single row over a year ago behind Inn at The Forks facing Festival Field, which once offered free parking to all visitors to the site. Some lots around The Forks still remain free, such as spaces directly outside the Travel Manitoba visitor centre.
Thomson says all revenue generated from parking is put back into The Forks.
