Parking Pilot Program

Time limits will be standardized to three hours between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., Monday through Friday on all streets that currently have daytime limits or restrictions. This change, tested within the pilot area, is intended to provide more consistency than the current regulations, which can vary from block to block. New parking regulatory signage is currently being installed, with the first phase of signage expected to be completed by the end of 2023.

Residents with a valid Oak Park Vehicle License (formerly referred to as a Village Vehicle Sticker) are exempt from the 3-hour 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Friday, daytime parking restrictions posted on their block. The resident exemption from daytime parking restrictions is intended to provide relief to residents from undue burden from parking restrictions that are truly intended to restrict parking for non-residents and commuters. The diagram below illustrates how the exemption applies to a typical residential block face, with the yellow star representing a residence and the green lines representing the street frontages on which that resident is exempt from applicable daytime restrictions. The Vehicle License does NOT override state level, safety related, school safety, hospital area, once-per-week street maintenance, daytime permits, overnight parking restrictions, paid parking zones or any other special restrictions on a block.

Effective January 1, 2023, paid parking hours were extended to 8 p.m. from the current 6 p.m. at meters and pay stations to create more turnover in parking spaces near businesses. This change, tested as part of the pilot program in select business districts, should particularly benefit restaurants and their customers by creating more available parking spaces during busy dining hours.

Effective January 1, 2023, the graduated pricing tested as part of the pilot program was expanded to all high and medium parking demand zones. This approach is intended to encourage customers to park at meters and pay-by-plate spaces for shorter durations and encourage long-term parkers to use parking garages, which offer lower, longer-term rates.

Pay stations for nearly 100 new pay-by-plate parking spaces will become operational on Madison Street to create higher turnover near businesses. The new equipment already has been installed.

The pilot program tested expanded options for overnight on-street parking, allowing permit holders to park overnight at designated metered and pay-by-plate spaces on Madison, Marion and Pleasant streets. This change created additional inventory of overnight parking spaces in these high-demand areas. In 2023, several overnight on-street permit zones will be expanded to improve access for permit holders. The number of overnight on-street permits issued by the Village will not change.

The Parking Pilot program was crafted following an extensive process guided by the Village's Transportation Commission, which held a series of public meetings and solicited feedback from members of the community. The feedback gathered during the process helped guide the changes being tested in the pilot program.

Click here for an archive of information compiled during the planning stages in 2017 and 2018, as well as the evaluation stage in 2021-2023.