CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Some Chicago residents felt a sense of shock and awe this weekend, and it wasn’t because of any fireworks display.
Chicagoans had to pay about five times more than normal to park near the lakefront over the Fourth of July weekend. The city raised its parking rate to $30 for a four-hour beach visit.
Several residents took to Twitter to voice their frustration.
“Chicago, keeping poor folks off the beaches for 100 years,” one person wrote on Twitter.
“Shame on Chicago!” another said.
While it may have caught some off-guard, the Chicago Park District said the higher holiday parking rate has been in place since 2018.
“Similar to other parking lots across the city, the Chicago Park District imposes a holiday rate along the lakefront over the Fourth of July weekend,” Lemons said in an email to the Sun-Times. “The $30 flat parking rate is consistent at all lakefront locations.”
However, rates were also jacked up in at least one other lot that’s nowhere near the lake, at Big Marsh Park on the Far South Side, and it’s still unclear why.
Parking prices are now back to their regular levels.