Canton Street Parking Now Runs on a Clock, and So Does the Free Deck

Since Aug. 1, the price of parking on Canton Street depends on when you pull in. Drivers who start a session between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. get their first two hours free. Everyone else pays $3 an hour, up to $24 a day. Before May 15, it cost nothing at any hour.

So downtown Roswell parking now has two prices, a daytime one and an evening one. The best evening option is the new deck on Alpharetta Street, which is free for now. But the city has tied that free parking to a road project with a fall finish date, and it sits inside a pilot program that ends Dec. 31. Downtown parking will probably change again before the end of the year.

Where the meter applies, and when

The city's paid zones are small. They are Canton Street between Magnolia Street and Norcross Street, Elizabeth Way between Canton Street and Alpharetta Highway, East Alley between Canton Street and Norcross Street, and the East Alley parking lot. Elizabeth Way also has two free 30-minute spaces for a quick stop at a shop.

Here is how the August rules play out on the same block:

The August rules made daytime visits cheaper and evenings more expensive. The first version of the program, which took effect May 15, charged $2 an hour all day with a $16 daily cap. The update traded that flat rate for a free daytime window plus a higher hourly rate at other times. In its July 30 announcement on Roswell Connections, the city said the change makes it easier to visit downtown's shops and restaurants "during peak morning and midday hours."

Canton Street's restaurant hours show who pays more. Truth Be Told at 1104 Canton St. serves dinner Tuesday through Thursday from 5 to 9 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 5 to 10 p.m., according to Rough Draft Atlanta. All of those hours fall outside the free window. The same restaurant added a Sunday brunch in August, which Appen Media reported runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Brunch on Canton Street now comes with free parking. Dinner at the same table costs $3 an hour.

Starting a session, even during the free hours

The free daytime hours still require a parking session. Drivers scan the QR code on the posted signs or text the posted number, then enter their license plate and how long they plan to stay. No app download is required. There are also two kiosks, one at Canton Street and Elizabeth Way and one along East Alley. A car parked in a paid zone without an active session can get a $20 ticket, even during the free window.

Roswell residents pay the same rates as visitors. The city's pilot program page says it considered free parking for residents early on and dropped it. City officials decided that telling residents from non-residents apart, in a city of nearly 100,000 people, was not workable.

The deck one block over is handling the evening crowd

The other option is the Green Street deck at 1056 Alpharetta Street, which opened May 4 with 394 spaces. The city's first-month numbers, covering May 8 through June 7, 2026, show how drivers used it:

• About 7,500 visits in 31 days, or roughly 242 vehicles on an average day
• The busiest hours were 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m.
• Saturdays averaged about 350 visits, the busiest day of the week
• Most visitors stayed one to two hours

The busiest single day was May 21, during Alive in Roswell. That night 619 vehicles used the deck, and it was nearly 88% full by 8 p.m. A typical Saturday brought about 350 cars, so a big downtown event fills most of the deck by early evening. On those nights, plan to arrive early.

Those numbers come from the deck's first month, when street parking cost $2 an hour all day. The August change made evening street parking more expensive and left the deck free. The 7 to 9 p.m. peak came before the price gap between the street and the deck got wider.

Why the deck is free, and when that could end

The city did not plan for the deck to be free all the time. Under the pilot program the council approved in March, the deck would be free Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Weekday evenings and weekends would be paid, at rates the city administrator would set using demand-based pricing.

That plan changed because of Green Street. Before construction started, a field assessment found that Green Street had to close completely to through traffic between Cherry Way and Alpharetta Street for about six months, starting in early May. The closure also took over the 66-space gravel lot at 1056 Green Street for construction staging. The council had set that lot aside for downtown employees. To make up for the lost lot and the closed street, the city made the whole deck free during construction. In the city's April update on Roswell Connections, Mayor Mary Robichaux said the change was meant "to maintain access and support our downtown while construction is underway."

The city's July 30 update kept that link in place. Deck parking stays free "during active construction on Green Street." A six-month closure that started in early May would end around the start of November, and the city has said the rebuilt street should open in fall 2026. Appen Media's report on the deck opening said the free parking would last seven months from May 4, which would run into early December. Appen also reported that the city expects to give up an estimated $262,000 in deck revenue during the pilot period. Neither source gives a specific date when the deck will start charging or what it will cost.

When Green Street reopens, it will be one-way southbound, with a brick-paved multi-use trail, new lighting and landscaping, and underground utilities. A later trail connection will link Plum Tree Street to Canton Street. That trail will connect the deck to Canton Street.

Dec. 31 ends the pilot itself

The city has not set a firm date for free deck parking to end, but the pilot itself has a fixed end date. The City Council approved it on March 9 by a 4–2 vote, and it runs through Dec. 31, 2026. The city's July 30 update on Roswell Connections says the pilot is meant to "gather real data on parking demand and usage patterns" to guide longer-term decisions. Appen Media reported that the data will inform parking rates in 2027. As of mid-October, the council has not taken up parking again. The Oct. 13 meeting recap lists no parking item, and the Sept. 28 recap did not either.

The bigger questions are still open. In March, the council postponed decisions about parking at City Hall and at Hillrose, the mixed-use development planned for the former police headquarters at 39 Hill Street, until staff gathered more data. In its October 2025 announcement, the city said Hillrose would have 510 parking spaces, including a 370-space shared deck, with certificates of occupancy expected in November 2027. The city's March 2026 parking page described the city-owned deck there as about 350 spaces. At either size, it is close in scale to the Green Street deck. Whatever pricing the city settles on for 2027 will apply to a downtown with two decks.

Downtown restaurants are planning around parking too

Restaurant owners expect parking to matter. Rough Draft Atlanta reported in August that Hal's "The Steakhouse," the Buckhead restaurant that has been open since 1989, plans a downtown Roswell location a few doors from Little Alley Steak, at the corner of Canton Street and Elizabeth Way. The plans include a rooftop patio and valet parking. Owner Sammy Jimenez told Rough Draft that valet was a "deal-maker" for people coming to Roswell to eat at Hal's. A later Rough Draft roundup lists the opening for 2027.

Elizabeth Way is one of the city's paid zones, and the street where it put its two free 30-minute spaces. A dinner restaurant opening there in 2027 will be working with whatever evening rules replace the pilot. Hal's has chosen to offer valet rather than leave its guests to the street and the deck.

Until new rules arrive, a daytime visit under two hours on Canton Street is free if you start a session. Evening street parking costs $3 an hour. The deck at 1056 Alpharetta Street stays free while Green Street is under construction. The pilot that sets all of these rules ends Dec. 31.

If you own a home within walking distance of Canton Street and want to know how downtown's changes might show up in its value, Sherry Poland can walk you through it. Request a free consultation or an instant home valuation.