Driving to Work on Auto-Pilot?

If you’re heading to the County Administration Center (CAC) Monday, watch out or you may suddenly see a fence at your front bumper! That’s right, if you stick to the same old parking routine you’re used to, you may have to throw your car into reverse, whip out that new parking pass and find your new space.

And that’s all to the good. The new fencing going up in the north and south parking lots this weekend and the re-striping on the north lot are all signs that the long awaited Waterfront Park is finally becoming a reality. In fact, the groundbreaking for the historic event takes place Tuesday, but that’s another story. (Stay tuned!)

One of the first steps toward this 11-acre bay front civic treasure is building a 250-space public underground parking garage on the CAC’s south side. The current lot will be closed Monday and all of the public and disabled parking spaces will move to the north lot. Some employees will move their cars to different spaces in the north lot, but most of us will be checking out our new parking digs off site at either the Cedar Street/Kettner Blvd. lot or at Lane Field located south of the CAC at 900 W. Broadway. 

Shuttles will run between Lane Field and the CAC Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. The shuttle stops are marked on a map contained in the waterfront project update here. The CAC’s East Plaza entrance will reopen after several upgrades in the area. Meantime, the current entrances on the north and south side of the building will remain open.   

In addition to the fencing, re-striping and shuttle stops, you may also see some parking pay stations at the north lot. You’ll know them by the solar panels they’re sporting. Don’t worry about the pay stations, they don’t affect employees. The CAC lot will be used after 6 p.m., weekends and holidays for paid public parking. ABM Parking/Five Star will manage the lot at those times.

If you work on the weekends, you can use a special area in the north lot marked as assigned staff 24-hour parking not to be confused with reserved parking set aside for County officials.

If you will be working late, you can bring your vehicle over from the Cedar/Kettner or the Lane Field lot after 5 p.m. and use any open space in the staff 24-hour parking area.

So what if you don’t work at the CAC, but you occasionally have business here? You can park your County car at a meter on the city street. County vehicles are exempt from paying meters. Personal cars are not. Another option is to park in the public parking areas if the meeting will be less than 3 hours. 

For more information about the CAC parking plans and the waterfront park project itself, visit General Service’s website.