Free parking at downtown Springfield meters will continue for a while longer.
Mayor Jim Langfelder’s office says the city will continue to allow people to park on the street downtown without plugging meters through at least the rest of the city’s current fiscal year, which runs through February 28th.
The city suspended paid metered parking in March of 2020 at the start of the pandemic, and has kept that policy in place as many state workers continue to work from home instead of returning to downtown offices. Langfelder has said it’s likely that paid metered parking will return sometime in 2022, but hasn’t said exactly when.