Plenty of parking in Norwich

Jason Vincent has heard the complaints over and over: There's not enough parking downtown to support existing and new businesses.

He set out to answer the questions of just how much parking there is in downtown Norwich, how far it is from popular destinations and how much it costs. The answers didn't surprise the senior economic development associate at Norwich Community Development Corp., but they might surprise some people.

There are more than 3,000 parking spaces in downtown Norwich, and 1,093 of them are free, including 520 on-street spaces. The city and other public entities own 1,756 spaces, while private entities own 1,269 of the spaces.

Vincent said the assessment of the current parking situation will help city officials market the downtown to businesses and potential patrons.

The inventory of spaces was just the first step in a plan to make the downtown - with its narrow, one-way streets and steep hills - more navigable.

In the window at the NCDC Main Street office are two posters that could be signs of things to come. "Walk Norwich. Are you going to Social Security? 1 minute walk." Someone with a smartphone can scan the bar code and download walking directions from the NCDC office, which is directly across the street from the free Main Street parking garage.

The second poster directs people to the nearly Norwich Superior Courthouse, but Vincent already has learned that modern technology is not infallible. The Google Maps directions to the courthouse were wrong. Vincent contacted the Internet giant to let them know and has been informed that the error will be corrected.

"It's not that I need directions to the courthouse," Vincent said. "I know where it is, but for someone coming here for the first time and finding a place to park, and then having to figure out where the courthouse is from there, it's confusing."

In the future, NCDC hopes to create a geographic information system with online links that would provide maps of parking areas and directions and indicate whether they are free or charge a fee.

But for now, Vincent printed out bright orange placards he is distributing among businesses, City Hall, and he hopes the courthouse, with parking information. One side shows a rough map of the key landmarks, key downtown streets with parking lots and free on-street spaces.

"Thank you for visiting," the other side said. "We have plenty of FREE Parking and want you to find it." An illustration of a car in the corner of the card has a thought bubble: "Wow! Over 1,000 FREE spaces."

On Tuesday, Vincent presented the preliminary assessment with detailed spreadsheets of raw data to the Norwich Public Parking Commission to ask for the commission's participation in the effort to make Norwich more parking friendly.

He also asked the commission for permission to place a much larger vertical parking sign on the free Main Street garage. Vincent said he hopes the sign would be visible from Washington Square for vehicles approaching downtown.

Another map shows a person can get to most key places downtown within five minutes on foot.

"It's interesting when you see it laid out like this," said parking commission member and City Council President Pro Tempore Francois "Pete" Desaulniers. "It's really not bad walking."