The Town of Newmarket is set to start phase 2 and 3 of its parking lot improvements in the Riverwalk Commons Parking lot (P3) starting on September 2 until November 12, 2025. During construction, over 200 parking spaces will be available for use to limit disruptions to businesses, residents and visitors because of this phased approach.
The first phase, completed in March 2025, added over 150 parking spaces to the downtown core in time for the summer festival and event season, bringing the total number of parking spaces in the downtown to approximately 903.
Typical construction hours will be Monday to Friday, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and some weekend work may occur.
What to Expect
- Parking availability: The Town will complete the construction in two phases to ensure over 200 parking spaces are available and to limit disruptions to businesses, residents and visitors to the downtown area.
- Short-term lane closures: Doug Duncan Drive will be narrowed during construction when performing sidewalk installation.
- Access: Businesses and public access will remain open; emergency access will be maintained.
- Events: No impacts to scheduled events and additional signage will provide direction to available parking.
- Overnight parking: Overnight parking will be available at the north end of the parking lot and will be available throughout construction.
Improvements to the parking lot include curb repairs, repaving the entire lot and adding a new sidewalk to improve pedestrian safety while meeting accessibility requirements.
To date, the Town has made a significant investment to improve and expand parking opportunities to support the growing needs of our award-winning historic downtown. In addition to adding more parking spaces in the former tennis club area, the Town has:
- Added 40 parking spaces on the east side of Church Street (just west of Main Street). These spaces were previously designated as no parking areas.
- Worked with the BIA to encourage business owners and their employees to park outside of the downtown core during major construction projects.
- Limited facility rentals at the Newmarket Community Centre and Lions Hall during peak times to further alleviate parking pressures.
Newmarket is committed to maintaining safe and reliable infrastructure for the community. Once this work is complete, the downtown area will have significantly more parking opportunities while providing a better parking experience, improved traffic flow and pedestrian safety, accessibility and modernized infrastructure for the community.
Members of the public are encouraged to use the other parking lots located in the downtown area at:
- Fairy Lake Park parking lots
- All Our Kids (AOK) Play Park parking lot
- Street parking on Church Street
- Lions Park parking lot on Church Street
- Street parking on Cane Parkway
