WLS-AM Staff Story

(CHICAGO) Mayor Rahm Emanuel is proposing an increase in the cost of Wrigleyville street parking as part of his 2017 city budget.

The plan is to raise the cost of metered parking to four dollars an hour for a period running two hours before Cubs games to one hour after the games end, as well as for other Wrigley Field special events.

Alderman of the 42nd Ward, Brendan Reilly, told WLS Political Editor Bill Cameron it’s a good idea, saying “The idea of the special event congestion fee is to address some parking abuses that occur during Cubs games specifically where people are reloading their paid parking spaces for the entire day to the exclusion of everyone else who might want to shop in that area or for residents.”

Reilly is also praising Emanuel for the plan to start charging $14 an hour for most downtown loading zones instead of having businesses buy permits.