Pensacola City Government

Palafox Returns to Traffic June 1 — Free Parking Stays Through October

Mayor Reeves confirms the pedestrian phase ends this Sunday, lays out the construction sequence for side streets, and says parking policy changes won’t come until the new fiscal year.

At his Wednesday press conference, the mayor said that only Palafox would open to vehicular traffic, but since the presser, the administration has decided to open Government Street, W. Romana Street and W. Intendencia Street also on June 1.

The construction sequence: East Zaragoza Street and Fred Levin Way will be completed first, followed by East Romana and East Intendencia. Once they are completed, the road crews will move to West Romana and West Intendencia and finally to Government Street. Traffic patterns will change accordingly.

The formal dedication ceremony for Palafox Street is set for Saturday, July 4, at 10 a.m. at Plaza Ferdinand.

• NOTE: The Government Street and Palafox Street is NOT a roundabout.

Free Parking Continues—At Least Through October 1

In response to my question about how long free parking will last, Reeves said the city plans to hold the current free-parking policy through the end of the fiscal year. Any changes to the downtown parking structure will take effect October 1 at the earliest, timed to the start of the new budget year.

That means free parking on Palafox Street, Jefferson Street, and all city-owned parking remains in place with no change in the near term.

“The worst thing you can do, even if you’re making good policy change, is to be doing it every three months.” — Mayor D.C. Reeves

Reeves said the extended free-parking window gives the city time to build out a smarter set of rules using more than a year of paid-parking data—thousands of data points, hour by hour and zone by zone—before asking residents to adapt again. He is working on the revisions directly with Council President Patton and Deputy Administrator Amy Miller.

Among the changes under discussion:

• Expanding the senior parking permit program to all seniors—not just city residents—at $10 per month, tied to a license plate, so no phone app is needed at the meter.
• Modifications aimed at reducing friction for city and county residents while maintaining revenue needed to fund future parking infrastructure, including a new garage.
• No major changes to zones or hours are expected; the goal is refining how the existing system works, not overhauling it.

Reeves noted that roughly 80% of paid-parking revenue comes from non-residents, and the city wants to protect that revenue stream while making the experience easier for locals.