City trying to ease parking woes along Hillsborough Street in Raleigh

Courtney Bachman relies on public parking twice a week to attend one class. Finding an empty spot is hard, and she says interpreting the parking signs can be harder.

There are more than 1,800 non-residential spaces along the street, but many say that’s not enough and the ones available aren’t clearly marked.

“Permit spots are 'P' and public parking are 'P' and there’s another that's 'P',” she said. “I never know which one I'm supposed to park in.”

“It's part of living in an urban environment, especially near a university. Parking is always going to be a challenge,” said Jeff Murison, executive director of the Hillsborough Street Community Service Corporation, which is a partnership between the city, N.C. State and property owners.

The city is looking at ways to improve parking. One short-term idea is to clarify the confusing signs. Murison said developers also are bringing some extra parking capacity.

“Almost all the buildings being built or that have been built include more parking, so people have to discover them, have to get used to using them,” he said.

“They need to put more public parking lots and less lots you have to buy $100 passes for,” she said.

Construction should begin in the spring.