Turnaround area added to top level of Exchange Street parking deck

Drivers who can’t find a space in the Exchange Street Parking Plaza now have an easier way to exit the multilevel structure.

The city has dedicated two spots on the top level to a turnaround area, giving drivers who can’t find a space room to turn around after they have circled to the top in vain.

“It’s two spots next to a handicap space that’s lightly used,” Hot Springs Public Works Director Denny McPhate said. “That gives you a wide enough area to maneuver and turn around when the parking deck is full. We were getting complaints that when the deck is full during holidays and the summer people were going all the way to the top and having trouble turning around within the width of the aisle.”

The parking deck’s 245 spaces represent most of the 339 free downtown

parking spaces identified in a parking inventory included in the Downtown Hot Springs Parking, Pedestrian and Bicycle Enhancement Plan the Hot Springs Board of Directors adopted in 2016.

The city has said the parking deck is no longer the seldom used, obscure asset it was after opening in 2003, noting that spaces are now at a premium during the summer tourist season and when downtown is hosting popular events and festivals.

The city has said increased usage and capital costs, such as the $151,416 contract the board awarded earlier this year for the installation of an additional elevator, may warrant charging for parking in the parking deck. The elevator contract required a $75,000 general fund transfer to the parking fund.

Meter collections, projected at $90,000 in 2019, are the parking fund’s primary revenue source. Large capital outlays, such as the new elevator, require transfers from the general fund. More metered parking is a measure being considered by the Downtown Business District Parking Advisory Committee the board chartered last year.

The panel has been tasked with finding additional parking revenue, which it has said could come from technology-based solutions to downtown parking issues. The committee met with a vendor earlier this year who demonstrated the latest parking technology advancements, including digital platforms that collect electronic payments after directing drivers to open spaces.

The city has said the parking deck’s 245 spaces could represent as much as $500,000 a year in untapped revenue for the parking fund.

The parking deck was built with two elevator shafts. McPhate said the second elevator should be delivered by early next year. The city has said the new elevator can be used when the current one is out of service for repairs.