Downtown Fargo: Losing Parking…for the Sake of Parking?

The new parking ramp will add some much needed space for downtown.

It’s no question the city of Fargo needs more parking spaces.

City planners hope to break ground by April with a new 400 car parking facility.

The project will take about eight months. So, what happens in the meantime?

Unfortunately, it’s parking, for the sake of parking.

Restaurants, entertainment, even ice skating, downtown Fargo has it all.

But it’s missing one thing.
 
“We’ve wanted parking for a long time now, so this is great,” says Zandbroz Variety Owner, Greg Danz.
 
The Kilbourne Group’s new 400 car parking facility will also feature retail shops and apartment units.
 
“For residents, they’ll be able to drive up to what floor they’re on and park not that far away from their housing unit,” says City Planning Director, Jim Gilmour.
 
An exciting addition to downtown once it’s finished, but come April, construction of the facility will cause people to lose parking downtown.
 
“195 people parking here now that won’t have a space until the ramp is completed,” says Gilmour.
 
“In the meantime, one of the options they’re considering is to have people park in the Howard Johnson Inn parking lot.”
 
Gilmour suggests ride sharing and taking the bus.

He says the city may have to look into additional short term parking options like utilizing open spaces near Island Park.
 
“It will be a lot of details to work on over the next year but in the end I think we’ll have a better parking system downtown,” says Gilmour.
 
“Really we think of downtown as from the river to University Avenue and Island Park up to Sanford so it’s a big area and were hoping that new parking on Roberts is just the start of more to come,” says Danz.

Gilmour also says the city streets  need sewer and water replacement.

He says they might consider knocking out the two projects at once but will have to see if that is possible.