Whether you are visiting Colonial Williamsburg or headed to Duke of Gloucester Street for a bite to eat, you have probably noticed there have been a few changes to parking in downtown Williamsburg.
Williamsburg and The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation have now widely instituted paid parking in the downtown through the use of the Passport Parking app, while also providing short-term parking for free.
Changes were approved by Williamsburg City Council in 2017, after a parking study was conducted in downtown in 2016. Walker Parking Consultants reviewed parking in the downtown and provided nine recommendations to address the issue of low-parking availability. One of those was to implement paid parking.
According to the city’s website, the paid parking philosophy is aimed at providing “one open space on every block most of the time.”
Williamsburg Police Officer Don Janderup is in charge of the Bureau of Professional Services, which oversees parking. He said that their goal through parking enforcement is to encourage people to follow the limits so that there are more parking spaces available.
Parking fines in Williamsburg range from $10 for the first violation up to $300 for five or more violations. There are also additional fees if the ticket is not paid within 14 days of when it was issued. Revenue from parking and citations goes into the city’s general fund, according to Nicole Trifone, spokeswoman for the city.
Through March to July 2021, the Williamsburg Police Department issued 1,799 parking citations throughout the city of Williamsburg. In the month of July, WPD issued 224 citations, lower than several previous months. Janderup said this was due to several factors, including one of the parking enforcement vehicles being out of operation. From March to July 2021, the city’s parking fines totaled $24,753.
In the month of July, the city received $29,851 in revenue from parking fees for Prince George Parking Garage. Between March and July 2021, the city received more than $135,606 in revenue total from Prince George Parking Garage.
Williamsburg’s police department enforces many of Colonial Williamsburg’s paid parking lots, in addition to their own. This is conducted through a lease agreement and the city receives a percentage of the parking revenue, according to Janderup. The most recent contract was signed July 1. The city receives all the revenue from parking citations issued.
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation did not disclose how much money they have received in parking revenue.
Currently, the WPD has three part-time parking ambassadors. Janderup said they are hoping to add a fourth in the near future. The ambassadors are responsible for enforcing parking, but they also try to help residents and visitors who need help paying to park or have questions, according to Janderup.
Ambassadors’ schedules are coordinated so that there is someone to patrol during most of the day and evening.
According to Ellen Peltz, spokeswoman for The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, the revenue that the foundation receives from parking goes toward the maintenance and beautification of the parking lots. Just last month, P4 reopened after paving the previously gravel lot.
Parking options in downtown
There are a number of parking options in downtown Williamsburg, including both paid and free. Many of the parking lots are organized through numbers one through six.
Free parking lots:
P3 parking lot on Prince George Street (limit one-hour)
P5 parking lot on Francis Street (limit one-hour)
Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg parking lot
Colonial Williamsburg Regional Visitor Center parking lot on Visitor Center Drive (P1)
Paid lots:
P2, P4 and P6 parking lots
Inn East and Inn West
Lodge East (near Taste Studio) and Lodge North
Prince George Parking Garage at 230 N. Henry St.
All of the paid parking options operated by The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation require the use of the Passport Parking app. For P2, P4 and P6 the first two hours are free and then it costs $2 an hour. P3 and P5 have a one-hour parking limit.
Prince George Parking Garage, which is operated by the city, has a pay station available. At the pay station, visitors input their license plate number and the state it was issued in. Credit and debit cards are the only payment accepted. If you visit frequently, you can also pre-pay to park in the Prince George Parking Garage through the Park Williamsburg portal. Two universal parking stations for electric vehicles and two Tesla parking stations are also available at this location.
Janderup said that there is also some free street parking available within the downtown, such as along Richmond Road and N. Boundary Street.
More parking options for specific locations in Colonial Williamsburg are also available.
How to use the Passport Parking app
Most of the paid parking in downtown Williamsburg requires the use of the Passport parking app. The app, which is available with Apple IOS and Android devices, allows you to input and save your license plate number. After parking in a paid lot, it will prompt you to start a “new session” and then input the five-digit number of the lot you are in.
Signage around paid parking lots indicates which number to put in the app when prompted. From there, you will select the license plate number of the car you are driving, and then enter the amount of time you wish to be parked. Parking rates vary depending on the lot.
There is also a convenience fee of 35 cents per transaction when using your credit card through the Passport Parking app.
According to Peltz, visitors do not need to register their car on the Passport Parking app when parking in free lots. Though, all visitors in paid parking lots, including one- and two-hour short-term parking, do need to register their car through the app. The convenience fee is not charged during the free time periods in these short-term lots.
For more information on downtown parking go to williamsburgva.gov/565/Downtown-Parking-Plan.
To see an interactive map of parking options in downtown Williamsburg, visit vagazette.com.
Abigail Adcox, abigail.adcox@virginiamedia.com, 757-264-8149
Parking options in downtown Williamsburg
Free parking:
P3 and P5 are one-hour parking lots
Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg parking lot
Colonial Williamsburg Regional Visitor Center parking lot on Visitor Center Drive (P1)
Paid parking:
P2, P4 and P6 parking lots
Prince George Parking Garage, P1 (pay station available)
Lodge East and North
Inn East and Inn West
All paid parking will require the Passport Parking app to pay, except for Prince George Parking Garage which has a pay station. Rates vary by lot. A shuttle is available at certain locations, including from the Colonial Williamsburg Regional Visitor Center.
*This is not an all-inclusive list of parking options.
