Durango does a real disservice to downtown business owners and the homeowners on Third Avenue. Many employees park on Third, because there is no available or affordable parking nearby.
Durango is a tourist town and a multi-level parking structure could be a money maker and at the same time make it easier for the tourists to shop, eat, etc. Instead you get to see beautiful downtown Durango as you go round and round, block after block, searching for a spot.
Think how the city is adding to pollution by not having adequate parking! In my opinion, the two places for a parking structure would be the train parking lot and the transit center. Both would be convenient to downtown especially the train lot.
We recently read that a fire station is being considered for the train parking lot. A fire station is at 1235 Camino Del Rio. Each time I read the city council’s agenda, I think that multi-level parking will be on the list but I see money spent on everything but.
The idea appears to be to pack as many structures as possible into Durango with no additional parking. The city is running out of space in the downtown area. Even parking at Horse Gulch medical center is limited, forcing the staff to park elsewhere, mostly across a very busy street with no traffic signal.
Parking doesn’t seem to be a priority in Durango.
Shirley Luley
Durango
