Beginning May 3, Pitkin County will implement a new residential construction parking program on county roads.
The Board of County Commissioners approved the construction parking program in 2018 to mitigate parking causing congestion in residential neighborhoods and to encourage carpooling for construction contractors. Residential construction parking along county roads has historically been a problem, leading to: road congestion, road operational challenges, emergency vehicle response concerns, residential disputes and inability to manage or enforce illegal parking.
“The Board of County Commissioners is interested in providing contractors a legal parking option along county roads, while encouraging carpooling to construction sites,” said Brian Pettet, Pitkin County public works director. “Without the seasonal program, the county would have been forced to enforce the no-parking restriction on county roads year-round.”
Construction general managers will need to apply for a ROW parking permit through Pitkin County Public Works and will need to request parking spots adjacent to the county road. These parking spots may not exceed the limits of the property boundaries of the construction site adjacent to the county road. The requested parking spots would be authorized based on parking availability next to the road.
“The construction parking program provides contractors an opportunity to designate parking at job sites while still allowing Road and Bridge operations and maintenance, and providing safe access for emergency personnel,” said Scott Mattice, Road and Bridge director.
Contractors who fail to comply with the new system will be issued a stop-work order from the Building Department through a construction site red tag.
The cost of the parking permits varies as follows:
- Annual permits: $6,000 per parking spot
- Permits from April 1 to August 15: $4,000 per parking spot
- Permits issued after August 15: $2,000 per parking spot
- 30-day permits: $1,000 per parking spot
Rearview mirror hang tags will be issued and must be displayed in vehicles parked along the road. Hang tags may be used by multiple sub-contractors on the site, but cannot be used for other construction sites. Construction parking along county roads is still prohibited between November 15 and April 1 for snow removal purposes.
Parking passes can be purchased online at https://www.pitkincounty.com/309/Permits-Road-Standards
Contact: Brian Pettet, director of Public Works, 970-920-5392 or brian.pettet@pitkincounty.com