Hours-long free parking returns to Gastown parkade

Gastown Parkade entrance for EasyPark Lot 126 at 151 West Cordova Street, Vancouver. (Google Maps)

To help support the shops, restaurants, and entertainment establishments in the Gastown district of downtown Vancouver, free parking has returned to Gastown’s West Cordova parkade.

The Gastown Business Improvement Society is providing weekly free parking for up to three hours on each occasion.

This is specifically for the EasyPark Lot 126 at 151 West Cordova Street, accessible from West Cordova Street — just across from the Woodwards complex. This is not to be confused with EasyPark Lot 131 on the Water Street side of the parkade.

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Each licence plate can access this free promotion once a week through the parkade’s Offstreet online parking payment platform. Using the platform, drivers can enter their licence plate number into Offstreet (bit.ly/gastownparking) and click “PARK.”

After three hours, drivers can keep their vehicles in the parkade for longer by paying for additional parking time using the ZipBy app.

This is intended to be a limited-time promotion throughout the duration of the City of Vancouver’s pilot project to convert the central segment of Water Street through Gastown into a car-free street for pedestrians, restaurant patios, merchandise displays, and other activations such as events. The car-free pilot project will run from early July to late August.

Crews are currently repairing Water Street’s brick pavers ahead of the start of the car-free pilot project.

Earlier this month, Vancouver City Council approved providing $20,000 to the business improvement association to help cover a portion of its free parking program and waive City fees for businesses and organizations looking to create new and expanded patios and merchandise displays during the pilot project period.

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