On a beautiful weekend day, the traffic headed to Pinellas County's Clearwater Beach can resemble a parking lot.
With approximately 2,000 available public and private spaces available it only takes a couple hours for all spots to fill and traffic comes to a stop on the Memorial Causeway.
Dr. Mikel Hopkins lives in the Island Estates neighborhood. The entrance to his community is on the west end of the Memorial Causeway about halfway between downtown Clearwater and the beach. Dr. Hopkins is a fan of his community, but says the traffic backups are frustrating.
"You have a sunny day and it's just bumper to bumper parking lot all the way out to Island Estates," he said.
Clearwater Spokesperson Joelle Castelli said parking on the beach requires some advance planning.
"The best suggestion is to always arrive early, to pre-plan where you're going to park and bring your patience," Castelli said. "Those are the three things we always tell people."
More beach parking is in the works, including a new garage on North Beach at Poinsettia Avenue at East Shore Drive according to Castelli.
"We're working with a developer up there who's creating the parking lot option," Castelli said.
Once completed, the new garage will create 450 more spots. The city understands the additional spots won't solve Clearwater Beach's parking issues. However, it is a step in the right direction.