Residents looking to score free parking in the Dickson Street area by jumping the curbs of the gated paid parking lots now have another obstacle to face.
After trying citations, fines, shrubbery, and even boulders to keep drivers from jumping the curbs to avoid paying, the city’s transportation department has installed a series of six-foot-tall fence sections near the exits and entrances of the three gated lots surrounding the Walton Arts Center.
Curb jumping has been an issue since paid parking began just over a year ago, said Sharon Waters, parking and telecommunications manager for the city.
Waters said drivers are constantly hopping the curbs, driving through shrubbery, and in some cases, moving the boulders out of the way to drive around the gates.
“It is nightly problem,” said Waters. “Our police officers simply don’t have the capacity to deal with every incident, and neither do we.”
With the gated lots carrying a $5 maximum daily fee, we thought it was somewhat surprising that so many people were jumping the curbs. More surprising, however, is that Waters said many drivers who have been caught jumping the curbs were only parked for an hour or less, meaning their fee would have been either 50 cents or $1, depending on what time of day it was.
We’re not sure what the fine for jumping the curb is. We’ve put in a call to the Fayetteville Police Department to find out. We’ll update this post once we hear back, but we’re assuming it’s nowhere near $5.
Included below are a few more photos of the fence sections, which match the fencing along the city’s nearby trail system.
West Avenue parking lot (across the street from the main WAC lot and Grub’s).
West Avenue parking lot (across the street from the main WAC lot and Grub’s).
School Street parking lot entrance (entrance is by Kingfish).
