GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – The Brown County Tavern league is teaming up with the City of Green Bay to implement a SafePark program for drivers, this program is to help keep impaired drivers off the roads at night.
“OWI arrest year to date are down 20% which is a really big number. We want that to be lower, but it’s a trend in the right direction and we haven’t had any alcohol-related fatalities in Brown County this year so far,” said tavern league president Don Mjelde.
Efforts to cut down on drunk driving have led the Tavern League to re-introduce it’s SafePark Program for the city.
“I’ve had a lot of tavern owners and patrons that come up to me and say they chose a responsible means to get home and they got a parking ticket the next day. We shouldn’t punish people for doing the right thing,” he said.
A SafePark voucher will allow people to park overnight in Green Bay, which is currently restricted from 3 to 5 a.m.
“We do have a night sweeping program and during the day so we have to get that done. Also in the winter time, we want to get people off the street every day, so we don’t have to issue a snow emergency every day,” said Green Bay Director of Parking Operations Chris Pirlot.
Pirlot said city leaders have turned down this parking proposal in the past but thinks it will be approved this time around.
“It can introduce a little extra work, but we don’t expect to have a thousand cars through the night to be using the Safe Park Program,” he explained.
This proposal is expected to be voted on by the city’s Improvements and Services’ committee on Wednesday. If approved the SafePark Vouchers will be available at all Tavern League Bars and restaurants.
SafePark Rules:
1. Voucher only works in the city of Green Bay
2. The voucher DOES NOT override any meter or downtown parking restriction.
3. Vouchers are VOID during times of extreme weather, including snow emergencies and flood warnings.
3. With the voucher, you are only allowed to pick your car up by the following evening, before the next restrictive period. Failure to do so will result in a parking ticket.
4. Vouchers cannot be used twice in a 24 hour period.
