Some free parking at Marina Park might come to an end as Thunder Bay mulls paid lot

People visiting Marina Park in Thunder Bay may soon have to pay for parking, but only in one lot.

The city is considering charging for parking at the Market Square lot, located between the splash pad and Delta Hotel, said city parking authority supervisor Jonathan Paske.

There have been concerns about congestion in the lot, which led the parking authority to recently implement a time limit on parking there. But enforcing that limit is difficult and time consuming,Paske said.

"The parking authority is currently undergoing a financial and operational review, and this is one of the considerations, as possibly an opportunity for the parking authority ...to help control or manage the parking in that lot," Paske said.

"We'll see what the operational review shows or suggests," he said. "Of course, it will be presented to council forany final decision."

A report with the results of the operational review is due back to council in the fall, Paske said.

Even if paid parking was introduced at the Market Square lot, all other parking in the marina would remain free, but Paske said.

"There is quite a bit of parking available in the other lots at the Marina," he said. "So this might perhaps push some people to those areas where it is free, but I don't anticipate it creating a problem."

This isn't the first time the city has considered charging for parking at the marina.

The possibility was also raised in 2017. At the time, the city was considering implementing paid parking throughout the park.

"At that time, there wasfar less activity going on down there, but it was something that was being looked at in advance [of]what the Marina area was going to going to become," Paske said. "There wasnot much much appetite from the public, and therefore some counselors."