By Linda Seida, Staff Writer
LAMBERTVILLE — Twenty-five cents won’t go as far as it used to when the city upgrades its parking meters to digital versions.
A quarter currently pays for 20 minutes of parking time. With the upgrades, a quarter will buy only 15 minutes.
The city doesn’t think motorists will be upset by the loss of five minutes because it will be offset by the added convenience of being able to insert smaller dimes and nickels in the meters when the upgrades are completed, Acting Clerk Cynthia Ege said. “People want the convenience because you don’t always have quarters,” she said.
A nickel will buy three minutes under the digital upgrade. A dime will get you six minutes.
The city is keeping the original parking meter casements. The interior mechanism or “guts” will be replaced along with the poles. Currently the poles hold one meter each, but the upgraded decorative poles will each hold two meters.
They will not be equipped with sensors, as some more modern meters are, that clear the credited time remaining when a vehicle leaves the parking space, Ms. Ege said.
The upgrades will cost $60,000, including funds for a new cart to collect the coins from meters. The City Council on April 20 authorized bonding for $57,000, with a $3,000 down payment.
A need for new meters came to light when periodic testing discovered some of the more than 300 parking meters are not keeping accurate time. “Every so often the Police Department tests a percentage of the meters,” Ms. Ege said. “I think they were last replaced in the ‘80s, so it’s time.”
All city meters will be upgraded.
The decorative poles will resemble those already in place on Lambert Lane, Ms. Ege said.
The poles in place on streets now are “unsightly,” Mayor David Del Vecchio has said.
Hours of operation will remain the same. Meters are in effect Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m.-9 p.m., and on Sunday from 1-9 p.m.

