ELORA ‒ Residents were eager to share their thoughts for a study into Centre Wellington's new municipal parking strategy for downtown Elora and Fergus during an open house Wednesday evening.
Presented at the Elora Centre for the Arts, the study's primary goal is to develop a forward-thinking parking management strategy that caters to the municipality's needs while optimizing parking utilization, enhancing resident and visitor experiences, and supporting local businesses and safe, pedestrian-friendly environments.
"With Elora and Fergus becoming an increasingly sought-after destination, the demand for parking has grown," said the study. "We recognize the need for a strategic approach to ensure adequate and efficient parking resources."
Using maps of downtown Fergus and Elora, residents were asked to mark areas needing improvement with sticky notes.
Areas overwhelmed with sticky notes included Geddes Street, specifically between Mill Street East and Church Street, and Princess Street and Colborne Street in Elora, as well as development-related parking complaints about St Andrew Street in Fergus.
The study also asked for opinions about planned street closures, the downtown shuttle program, and parking time limits.
"Parking limits are not an issue for residents as most can walk downtown," said one comment. "It's very applicable for weekend visitors."
But another person said that the limits directly impact residents who rely on downtown parking, suggesting paid parking as a deterrent for all-day parking and a way to collect revenue.
County Coun. Mary Lloyd, who lives and works in Fergus, participated in the open house and shared some residents' feelings that the weekend shuttle program be year-round.
"The shuttle needs an active visible campaign to promote parking to visitors," said one comment. "(We need to tell people that to) avoid the parking headache, they need to park and ride (the shuttle), before they get to town."
There was also overwhelming support for pedestrian-only streets, with some residents even saying that Elora's downtown was "much diminished" this year without the regular pedestrian-only street closures.
According to staff, there were no planned pedestrian-only street closures in Elora due to construction happening in the area. However, while Provost Lane was closed in Fergus during the summer, parking availability was not impacted.
Isabel Buckmaster is the Local Journalism Initiative reporter for GuelphToday. LJI is a federally-funded program.
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