Parking-garage logic: How can private ramp justify charge?

By JIM FOTI, Star Tribune

Last update: November 2, 2008 - 9:34 AM

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Minnesota bridges rated: An interactive map of bridges that are "structurally deficient," "functionally obsolete" or have gusset plates like those on the I-35W bridge.

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How can a parking garage charge $8 for the whole workday but $16 for a single hour?

That's what a couple of unsuspecting drivers want to know after feeling burned by a parking ramp across the street from the Hennepin County Government Center.

The pricing at this privately owned ramp -- which has a sign advertising "court parking" -- is indeed curious: $2 for the first 20 minutes, a whopping $12 for the next 20 minutes, then $2 for every 20 minutes after that, with a daily maximum of $23. But if you're in before 9 a.m. and you leave after noon, you pay eight bucks.

"I think it's absolutely absurd," said Duncan Tomassen, who stopped by the Government Center for a driver's license matter on Monday and paid $16 for less than an hour of parking.

On the same block, across a 27-inch gap littered with beer cans, there's a ramp run by the city of Minneapolis. It ain't as pretty -- no nifty architectural screens, no hosta garden in the summer -- but the pricing is also less fancy: $1.50 per half-hour, with a 24-hour maximum of $12; the early-bird special is $7.

The city doesn't regulate parking rates, so it's a marketplace thing. That means drivers might find it worth their time to give the signs at entrances a thorough reading.

Corey Yankovec, Minneapolis area manager for Allied Parking, which runs the ramp that Tomassen used, said that short-term rates often are more expensive than long-term -- at airports, for example. He also noted that there's a no-charge way to escape if the price list is not to your liking, even if you've already pulled into the ramp: Take the ticket, drive to the exit, pop the ticket into the slot and leave.

I tested this "grace period" on Friday at Yankovec's ramp and three others nearby, and it worked.

Lighting up the night

The bridge is pink! Why is the bridge blue? Why aren't those wavy sculpture things in the median lit up?

These are the sort of things Roadguy has been hearing about the decorative lighting on the new Interstate 35W bridge.

The end goal is to bathe the underside of the bridge with white light on most nights, said Jon Chiglo of the Minnesota Department of Transportation, but we'll be seeing other colors while they work out a few kinks.

Ultimately, the entire spectrum will be available -- red, white and blue for July Fourth, for example, or maroon and gold when the Gophers win the Rose Bowl. The city could eventually take over the color decisions, Chiglo said.

The wavy sculpture things will once again be illuminated nightly after some parts come in, he said.

Jim Foti can be reached at 612-673-4491 or roadguy@startribune.com.

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