New parking meters could offer more ways to pay

The lowly Minneapolis parking meter is headed for its biggest makeover since going electronic back in 1992.

By the end of next year, the city expects to begin changing over its 6,500 aging and increasingly failing meters to something new. The exact technology depends on what manufacturers propose and how the meters stand up in a curbside testing period. But they'll likely be way more high-tech than today's, judging by the preview provided recently by Tim Drew, a city traffic engineer.

The new meters could take credit cards or dollar bills. They may allow motorists to pay by cell phone or an in-car connection. The city could switch to multi-space meters.

But there's still going to be room for quarters. That's a relief to Dateline Minneapolis. Our car's armrest usually carries around $5 in quarters hoarded for meters -- or more than our car, dating back to the first George Bush presidency, is worth.

But all those quarters represent a collection burden to the city, especially as the cost of street parking rises. The city's busiest meters need to be emptied of up to $200 in quarters three times weekly.

The introduction of rechargeable debit cards for parking relieved that situation somewhat. But there's still only one place to buy them outside a one-mile radius of City Hall. Plus, the cost of purchasing the particular type of cards the city has been using is 10 times higher than some other cards now on the market.

An even more compelling reason for changing meters is that they're failing more often and the parts are getting obsolete, according to Drew. The city recently hasn't been able to meet its standard of having no more than 50 meters out of service at once. More broken meters mean more foregone quarters.

Few of the technologies Minneapolis expects to be pitched by manufacturers are unfamiliar, although Drew thinks Minneapolis is the first city in the metro area to consider such a broad range of technology for its entire municipal meter system.

You can use your credit card to pay for parking at the airport or at about half of the city's ramps. Park Board pay lots feature multi-space meters.

Multi-space meters could come in one of two flavors. One is the pay-and-display variety in which one meter on each block dispenses a receipt for each driver to display on the dashboard. The advantage here is that since parking spots don't need to be striped, more cars could potentially fit in a block, increasing the city take.

But there's a downside for motorists who love to stretch a buck by prowling for a meter with unexpired time from the previous parker. Pay-and-display eliminates that possibility.

The other multi-space option also uses one meter on the block, but has the driver pay for a numbered spot.

Some meters could use the city's wireless network to self-report when they're malfunctioning or when they need to be emptied.

The city expects to test competing meters for several months next winter before picking a supplier next May.

Our imperialist roots

With the city's sesquicentennial celebration beginning this week, there's a fresh visual aid to help you visualize when Minneapolis was just a little town on the prairie.

Six blue signs have been posted marking the original town boundaries back when the town of Minneapolis was organized. Look for them on Hennepin, Hiawatha, Nicollet and W. Broadway avenues and W. River Parkway.

One of our favorite city maps, posted on the website of the erstwhile Minneapolis Public Library, illustrates how the city grew by leaps and boundaries over the years. To check how the city annexed adjoining property, visit www.startribune.com/a/?4546.

Who's up first?

In other public improvements, a new way of resurfacing city streets debuts later this summer, when several areas of the city will get their first look at it.

The technique isn't as expensive as renovating a street, but it gets more done than traditional maintenance techniques such as seal coating and crack filling. Property owners on residential streets will pay 16 cents per square foot of lot that they own.

The resurfacing involves milling off pavement six feet out from each curb, then paving up to two inches of fresh asphalt. That's quicker and cheaper than more extensive renovation that often involves replacing curbs and fixing problems in the road base.

The biggest areas to get this treatment will be residential areas of the northern Hiawatha neighborhood (6.8 miles) in the Longfellow community, and the northern Fuller neighborhood (5.26 miles) in southwest Minneapolis. A few blocks of 20th Avenue S. and W. 54th Street, and longer stretches of E. 60th Street and Bloomington Avenue S., also will get resurfaced.

The technique should add 10 years to the life of a street. But the real question is how long the city can put off paying the piper for roadwork. Tight city finances and the priority given to paying for cops have contributed to a steady deterioration of city streets, as judged by a steadily slipping pavement-condition index.

Steve Brandt • 612-673-4438