PUBLIC OPINION
Resident survey to help guide new parking system
Royal Oak police are asking residents to take an online survey as officials consider new meters and equipment for the city’s parking system.
Police Chief Corrigan O’Donohue said the survey is the best way to get feedback from residents during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s difficult for us to do the traditional town hall meeting, but we really want to focus on getting feedback and hope for a robust response to this survey,” he said.
The survey is open through Dec. 18 at romi.gov/parkingsurvey, and a link is also available on the city’s website.
A new parking system should be in place before the Henry Ford Health System building in the downtown opens next year.
“We think the Henry Ford building is going to change downtown parking a lot and we want a (parking) system that can adapt to new traffic patterns,” O’Donohue said.
Judy Davids, the city’s community engagement specialist, said much of the equipment used in the existing parking meters and other equipment will soon be obsolete.
Earlier this fall the city did a pilot program to test new parking meters in the downtown area.
Several new on-street smart meters with oblong heads were installed in a test area between Third and Fourth streets on Main Street.
The meters tested have high-resolution video technology and sensors that are powered by low voltage electricity, unlike older meters that require constant battery maintenance. The system has short posts in between meters that provide ambient lighting.
At the time, Keith Frye, parking systems manager for Royal Oak police, said in a memo that hundreds of existing meters on streets and lots consist of old kiosks, mechanical meters and two generations of aging digital smart meters.
Frye estimated that most of the existing smart meters — nearly 820 units — are based on older technology that will soon age out and not support smart meter functions.
The meters that were recently tested were supplied by a private company called Municipal Park Services.
The city may move to getting one parking system in the downtown district, but O’Donohue said he and other city officials first want to review residents’ opinions from the survey, which has about a dozen questions.
“Ideally, we’d like to have the on-street and parking garages on one system,” he said. “But if we go with ( Municipal Park Services) it doesn’t make much sense for them to go much beyond our urban core downtown.”
The City Commission on Monday night approved O’Donohue’s request to extend the city’s contract with Park Rite, the company that handles management of Royal
Oak’s downtown parking decks. Starting Jan. 1 many of the existing smart meters will lose the ability to accept credit card payments.
City commissioners approved another request Monday from O’Donohue to buy 150 new CivicSmart meters.
“Rather than replace all 550 … meters, staff is recommending replacing only 150 while we continue to research improvements to our parking system,” O’Donohue said.