PORTSMOUTH, Va. — Portsmouth city officials want to make the County Street Parking Garage safer, but it could cause some headaches for drivers looking to park downtown.
Drivers said it is easy to find parking downtown early in the week.
"Most of them were full, but I happened to see a spot, I pulled in," said TR Lawrence, visiting Portsmouth from Tennessee. "It was less than 60, less than 90 seconds, for me to find a spot for the next place."
But residents know the area can get congested.
"Towards the weekend— Friday, Saturday," said Nikki Dancy of Portsmouth.
Now, once the city takes down the centrally located County Street Garage next to the Children's Museum, Hampton Roads Transit and many downtown businesses, residents might have to circle the block a few more times.
"Oh yeah, parking is definitely going to be an issue," said Dancy.
The structure has damaged concrete and two floors closed. It needs to be fixed, according to city officials.
City Engineer James Wright detailed the plans to demolish the garage at the city commission meeting earlier this month. He said one of the main upgrades will be for safety.
"There's controlled access at points," said Wright. "There's lighting, there's cameras, there's all those things in place. And notifications. All those things, cameras and other things, that come in later will be tied into the police system."
The current structure has roughly 650 spaces. The new one is expected to have six levels and 700 spaces. The plans also show it will have more lights, more pay stations, electric charging stations and a smaller footprint for the garage, making room for another building next door.
Demolition of the old garage is already budgeted for, but the city is still trying to secure a partner developer to help pay for the $31 million rebuild.
While the old garage is out of service, workers will install a temporary surface lot with roughly 200 spaces.
Demolition is set to begin in September.
