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Riverhead to test drive paid parking

Riverhead Town officials plan to test out some new parking regulations in the downtown area in anticipation of potentially constructing an indoor parking garage in the future. The trial will last 30 days; the exact timeframe will be determined at the Town Board’s Oct. 10 work session.

Rates will be $1 for an hour or $5 for the whole day, Supervisor Tim Hubbard said. Handicapped parking will be free. 

Kevin Wood, a consultant with Parking and Mobility Consultants, has been studying the town’s parking issues for about four years. The pilot program will affect the parking lot behind Digger’s, which has 270 regular spaces and seven handicapped spaces. That lot was chosen to increase foot traffic, since patrons can park once and walk all of downtown from there. 

In addition to the planned downtown parking structure, another is being created near the railroad station as part of a private development. 

“We have been working with Kevin because we know that with what is happening downtown, there is going be great need for managed, paid parking,” said community development administrator Dawn Thomas. 

Several nearby municipalities already have managed parking, including East Hampton, Sag Harbor, Port Jefferson, and Patchogue. Greenport is currently in the middle of a 45-day trial of its own paid parking system.

Mr. Wood said he plans to do surveys of people on Main Street to gauge opinions of downtown parking. 

“We want that pedestrian activity, and this is part of how we get it,” Ms. Thomas said. “We want people to park once and walk through downtown.”