The Public Building Authority manages City and County owned parking facilities in the downtown Knoxville area.
Attention Students!
Welcome UT Students, Parking Information for Cumberland Avenue and Downtown
It’s that time of year again! Thousands of University of Tennessee students are making their way to Knoxville and will be moving into apartments and dormitories.
The City of Knoxville and Public Building Authority (PBA) officials welcome the students and remind them and their parents of City parking enforcement regulations that took effect July 1, 2016.
The City has installed over 1,000 parking meters, adjusting rates for on-street and City garage parking, and increasing parking enforcement. The goal is to create more turnover of on-street parking spaces in high-demand areas, which benefits merchants and restaurant owners.
For general parking information, visit http://www.knoxvilletn.gov/parking. For information on downtown parking garages, see here. To contact PBA, please call (865) 215-2434, during regular business hours.
Meanwhile, here’s a Q&A to help newcomers to Knoxville better understand the dos and don’ts on parking on City streets in the Cumberland District and in downtown. (Click on question to expand)
City parking enforcement in the Cumberland District includes White and Lake avenues; Melrose Place; and Mountcastle, 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th, 21st and 22nd streets. PBA has assigned four PBA officers to handle parking enforcement in the Cumberland Avenue area. PBA officers also enforce 30-minute limits for commercial vehicles only to park in designated commercial loading zones, and they also will be ticketing drivers who park vehicles illegally on sidewalks or in other non-designated areas.
The rate for parking in an on-street metered space is uniformly $1.50 an hour. Vehicles typically can be parked for up to two hours at a time. Hours of operation in the Cumberland District are 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays. (The same hours are in effect downtown, except on Gay Street and around Market Square; on those streets, enforcement hours extend till 11 p.m.)
The downtown City garage rate is $1 an hour – that’s 50 cents an hour less than metered on-street rates. You can park all day in the garage for $7/day (maximum). Parking in City-owned garages will remain free on weekends and upon entry after 6 p.m. on weekdays.
The smallest fee, for a meter violation, starts at $11. But the penalties vary depending on the violation. Parking in a space reserved for a disabled driver, for example, is punishable by a $50 fine. Anyone wishing to pay a ticket for a traffic meter violation or other parking violation can do so online at http://www.knoxvilletn.gov/payticket. Or contact City Court at 865-215-7474 or visit the court in the Safety Building, 800 Howard Baker Jr. Ave.
Vehicles that are towed are taken to the City’s Vehicle Impoundment Lot on Vice Mayor Jack Sharp Road in East Knoxville. The contact number for the lot is 865-215-6215. To retrieve a vehicle from the Impoundment Lot, you’ll need a government-issued photo ID, a licensed driver, and proof of ownership. The Impoundment Lot is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, but vehicles are only released between 8 a.m. and midnight. Impound fees may be paid with cash, a Mastercard or VISA credit card, a debit card with a VISA emblem, a company check, a cashier’s check or a money order.
There’s a Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center surface parking lot at 19th Street and White Avenue, the most eastern of a series of parking lots in that block. It’s available to UT parkers and the general public after 6 p.m. weeknights and on weekends. To be sure you’re parking in the right place, pay attention to the posted signs on the lots – the signs will indicate if you’re in the hospital’s lot or a non-public tow-away lot.
The Public Building Authority manages City and County owned parking facilities in the downtown Knoxville area.