Starting May 1, 2024, the Town of Drumheller will be charging for parking in designated areas in Drumheller Valley. 

In a regular Council Meeting on February 5, council approved launching the paid parking program. 

The new program will run annually from May 1 to October 31 and will be enforced daily between 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. 

It will cover several parking lots and areas situated near or on tourist attractions, including: 

  • Badlands Community Facility parking lot 
  • Hoodoos parking lot 
  • Rotary Park (the World’s Largest Dinosaur) parking lot 
  • Street parking along Riverside Drive East
  • Suspension Bridge parking lot 
  • Town-owned parking lot on 1 Street East 
  • Town-owned parking lot on 2 Avenue West
  • Town-owned parking lot on the corner of 2 Street West and Riverside 

Residents of Drumheller can apply online for a free residential parking permit, which will allow them to park in areas designated as paid parking. 

Drumheller Council argues that the paid parking program will benefit citizens. 

“The purpose of the paid parking program is to generate revenue at tourist spots to assist with upgrades to infrastructure maintenance throughout the Drumheller Valley. Currently, maintenance and upgrades to infrastructure are primarily funded by taxes paid by the residents of Drumheller. Taking into consideration taxes and utility rates, the residents of Drumheller are paying substantially more to use facilities than those who do not reside in Drumheller,” it states in a Drumheller Town Council agenda. 

Many rural citizens who live outside of the Town, are worried because they financially support the community and will still have to pay for parking. 

The Town of Drumheller responded by saying that “we know that this was a common question that was brought forward during our trial period, and we value all the support of our surrounding counties and communities. We want to emphasize that, for this first year, our teams are keeping the exemptions to a minimum to accurately determine the program's effectiveness.” 

According to the Council, the paid parking program is intended to be implemented in areas where tourism is frequent. 

“There will be a period of evaluation following the first year where conversations about adjustments can be discussed. To take surrounding counties into consideration for this year, our team explored Moderated Permits, which will be the opportunity for those with memberships at the recreation facilities to register and have a permit to be exempt from paid parking, including those from out of Town.” 

Parking rates are as follows: 

  • Parking Lots: $2.00/hour 
  • Street Parking: $2.50/hour 
  • Day Parking: $20.00/day 

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