Downtown commuters will soon gain access to about 2,400 new riverfront parking spaces, with 1,500 of them debuting Sunday when the Bengals host the Miami Dolphins at Paul Brown Stadium.

        Another 850 spaces will become available in December when the city opens a lot at the northwest corner of Central Avenue and Pete Rose Way, the former Crosset Produce site.

        The extra parking will give downtown workers and visitors access to almost 2,000 more spaces than before construction on the riverfront began two years ago, and at more affordable rates.

        Moreover, the additional parking might put pressure on downtown parking operators — particularly those north of Third Street — to stabilize or even lower rates.

        Construction of Paul Brown Stadium, Fort Washington Way and the loss of some downtown parking garages in recent years greatly cut the number of spaces while downtown employment increased.

        That in turn, observers say, provided parking compa nies an opening to raise fees.

        The latest additions mean that there will be about 6,900 parking spaces along the riverfront by December, up from about 5,000 before the construction began in 1997.

        “This is great news for downtown commuters,” said John Schneider, transportation adviser at Downtown Cincinnati Inc., the group charged with bringing more shoppers, workers and vitali ty to downtown.

        Hamilton County will open riverfront lots B, C, D, E and F, all south of Second Street. Parkers can pay $3 a day, or monthly fees ranging from $20 to $65.

        Executives at Central Parking, which will manage the lots, said the expansion could lead to lower prices in the central business district.

        “I could possibly see that happening,” said Jeff Jones, general manager.

Dillon defends reputation No sellout, no TV Dolphins scouting report Struggling o-line goes back to basics More parking for Bengals games

Reds 8, Brewers 1
Box, runs
Reds-Cardinals Scouting Report
Hand finishes Reese's year
Brewers' Sheets shows off Olympic gold
Xavier schedule includes Wisconsin
Bearcats have hard history with stingy Tulane
Complete Olympics coverage at Cincinnati.com/olympics
Local boxer beats Cuban in slugfest
DAUGHERTY: Runyan best of what Games offer
Blue Jackets visit Gardens
Complete prep football coverage at Enquirer.com/prepfootball
Tonight's key games in Cincinnati
Tonight's key games in N.Ky
Fearless Predictions: Cincinnati games
Fearless Predictions: N.Ky. games
Cincinnati schedule
Northern Kentucky schedule
Confident CovCath ready for challenge
New Richmond enjoys unbeaten feeling
Wyoming 21, Madeira 0
CCD 19, Summit CD 0
Newcomer adds kick to Lakota West
Badin takes sectional golf
High school highlights
Ohio high school results
N. Kentucky high school results

• Return to Bengals front page...