4/4/03

Quite a few of you will be planning to visit Annapolis in the next month or so. Many of you are planning to park at the stadium and take the shuttle. For those wanting to park closer to USNA, some advice on parking in downtown Annapolis follows:  For longer visits, parking in garages is definitely recommended. For the Hillman Garage (access from Main Street or Duke of Gloucester Street) and the Gotts Court Garage (access from Calvert Street or Northwest St near Church Circle), the rates are the same. Here's the current pricing schedule: First hour or portion thereof: Free .  Additional hours or portions thereof: $1/hour to a maximum of $8/day.  Entry after 4 pm (leave by 6 am): $2 flat rate.  Keep in mind that these garages are not very large and do fill (especially the Hillman Garage) so have a back-up plan in mind.  Parking at most metered spaces is limited to either 15 minutes or 2 hours (see the posted signs) and runs 25 cents/30 minutes at most 2 hour spaces. Meters must be fed from 10 am to 8 pm daily (including Sundays). Parking fines for expired meters run from $15 to $25 per violation and you can get multiple violations in the same day.

Much of downtown Annapolis is part of an area issuing residential parking permits. In these areas, parking without a permit is limited to 2 hours on Monday-Friday and 3 hours and Saturday-Sunday. Fines for overstaying your time run from $25 to $50 and are limited to one per day (not per stay) if the car is not moved. Cars may be towed, however. Parking in handicapped zones without a proper permit, parking in yellow or red striped zones, and parking blocking driveways or fire hydrants are also ticket-able and tow-able offenses.

Last but not least, parking more than 12 inches from the curb and parking "left to curb" (against the flow of traffic on a two-way street) are also parking violations for which the parking enforcement folks will happily ticket.  The above information isn't exhaustive and may be changed without warning so stay aware of posted signs. All of the "locals" want your visit to Annapolis to be a pleasant one.