A partnership between the Town of Smithfield, Johnston County and the Johnston County Building Industry Association is helping relieve downtown parking, available immediately for citizens and visitors, by making better use of available and existing resources in Downtown Smithfield.
The Johnston County Building Industry Association has agreed to allow Johnston County employees to use its parking lot at no cost. By relocating employee vehicles to the association’s property, spaces previously used by County employees will now be available for the public.
Most of those spaces are located in the public parking area behind the Johnston County Land Use Center and the Public Library of Johnston County and Smithfield, between North Third and North Fourth streets. The additional parking is available immediately.
The partnership comes as the Town continues looking for ways to address parking needs in Downtown Smithfield following the removal of on-street parking along Market Street. Market Street through downtown is also U.S. 70 Business and is maintained by the North Carolina Department of Transportation, not the Town of Smithfield.
Interim Town Manager Kimberly Pickett worked with Johnston County and the Johnston County Building Industry Association to find another option that would help make better use of existing parking downtown.
“We know parking is important to our downtown businesses, County employees and, most importantly, the people who come downtown every day,” Pickett said. “We may not control what happens on Market Street, but we can continue looking for solutions. This is a great example of three organizations working together to make better use of the parking we already have.”
There is no cost associated with the arrangement.
The Building Industry Association parking lot itself is being used for County employee parking and is not being opened as a general public parking lot. The benefit to the public comes from moving those employee vehicles and freeing spaces closer to the Land Use Center, library, and other downtown destinations.
The Town will continue working with Johnston County, downtown stakeholders and community partners to identify practical ways to improve parking and access throughout Downtown Smithfield.
