Truck Parking Frustrations Shared As Prince William Officials Suggest Actions

PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, VA — As Prince William County supervisors received an update on a new initiative to address growing parking challenges, various members called for action to deal with tractor-trailer and other truck parking frustrations.

Dan Alexander, the deputy county executive for the safe, secure community quadrant, provided the presentation to the board Tuesday on the Residential and Commercial Parking Initiative. According to Alexander, residential, commercial and industrial growth has worsened parking challenges in some areas, and resident complaints about parking are on the rise.

According to Alexander, the overall goals of the initiative are to reduce parking complaints in residential areas, expand capacity for commercial vehicles, and make parking enforcement and reporting more efficient. Alexander noted that the county is already looking at short-term solutions to address parking capacity issues.

The deputy county executive noted that parking complaints increased from 5,800 to 5,900 from 2023 to 2024, and citations have steadily increased for five years. Alexander noted a lag during the COVID-19 pandemic, but citations jumped from 13,215 to 14,430 from 2023 to 2024.

Prince William County Police are primarily responsible for parking enforcement, but Alexander said the county has added a parking monitor to better track complaints in the public safety dispatch system as complaints have increases. According to the initiative's website, police officers may respond to parking complaints that have a safety risk as staffing allows. Others are logged through the parking monitor.

"Police [parking enforcement] has primarily been a part-time function, and there are about six folks that are committed to doing that now across the districts. It's not centralized," said Alexander. "It's amazing what they're actually producing, 14,000 citations in a year, but that certainly is an area that we're gonna look at.

Supervisors Sound Off On Truck Parking

Supervisor Victor Angry (D-Neabsco) called for the county to find a way to get an 18-wheeler truck parking lot constructed. The supervisor brought up the ongoing concern of tractor-trailers moving from place to place to find a place to park. At the Neabsco Commons mixed-use development with hotels, residential and commercial uses in his district, Angry said a truck may park on one of the roads, causing visibility issues for drivers.

"We must work on a place where we can park 18-wheeler trucks in Prince William County, because I can't keep sending them somewhere else, and they're just bouncing around because they got no place to park, and that's all they're doing," said Angry. "And the people are frustrated, but that's what they're literally doing. So we got to solve that piece and all the rest of this, I'm hoping will fall in place, because at least we can send them to a parking that's designed in Prince William County for trucks."

Angry said developer interest in truck parking areas could be an area for the county's economic development to explore.

The supervisor also noted that Virginia law allows for service trucks meeting weight restrictions to park neighborhoods, but not heavier 18-wheeler trucks. Prince William County's website notes that commercial vehicles of 12,000 pounds or less can be parked on these neighborhood streets, and commercial trucks of less than 10,100 pounds can be parked at residential properties or public parking lots.

Supervisor Margaret Franklin (D-Woodbridge) said her district has seen commercial trucks parked when residential drivers are returning home and looking for parking.

"We've been talking about this for several years now, so I would encourage you all to almost make this a priority, because as we get more and more calls about these tractor-trailers parked on some of the main major roadways overnight and then during the day or towards the end of the evening, we're getting calls about the commercial trucks within the neighborhoods," said Franklin.

Franklin mentioned limiting parking in some areas without an associated parking cost as one strategy to explore.

Supervisor Tom Gordy (R-Brentsville) said he encountered an 18-wheeler truck in front of the post office in Nokesville in front of three no parking signs.

"Part of the challenge is you get one truck parking, two days later there's three trucks," said Gordy. "It's just like once one person does it, all of a sudden it just starts to grow, and so it becomes this manifesting challenge that we continue to have to figure out."

Supervisor Bob Weir (R-Gainesville) asked for increased attention to the commuter lot at Interstate 66 and Route 29 in Gainesville, where there is a parking issue with the contractors from the nearby Gainesville Crossing site.

"The contractors' employees are creating hell over there using all the spots, parking on the median strips, parking on the dividers, parking in the travel ways," said Weir. "Prior to the [federal] back-to-work order, it wasn't that big of a deal because there were lots of spaces. You go by that lot now, if you're not there by 7 [a.m.], you're out of luck."

Another common complaint Weir has heard was commercial trucks parking for days and blocking driveways."

"The complaint I most get is, 'nobody ever comes and does anything. They won't move them, ticket them, tow them, whatever, and I'm having a hell of a time getting in and out of my house,'" said Weir.

Supervisor Kenny Boddye (D-Occoquan) urged for more state involvement, noting resident complaints that one Interstate 95 rest stop in Prince William County was not enough.

"Every so often see folks at the Exit 160 [Route 123], the notorious 160 exit where everyone bottlenecks in Occoquan, tractor-trailers parked over there too," said Boddye. "It's a very expansive problem, and seems to move around every so often."

On the zoning side, Boddye urged for more attention during the design process for new mixed-use developments to not inadvertently create areas where trucks would illegally park.

Supervisor Yesli Vega (R-Coles) called for identifying hot spots for parking concerns to be the top priority so the county can implement immediate solutions such as signage.

"When we get these emails, when we get these complaints, when the calls come in, it's after hours, right? It's late," said Vega. "I know that parking enforcement is not out after a certain time frame, and we understand the challenges that our police department has when it comes to staffing, and they have other emergency calls for services that take priority over a parking complaint. But that doesn't mean that our constituency is not frustrated because we're not being responsive to their needs."

Similar to Angry, Vega suggested incentives for developers to add parking for trucks.