Even though no time frame has been set for the project, new electronic parking signs may be installed on Beaver and College avenues to alert drivers of how many open spaces are available in parking garages.

The signs would indicate open parking at the garages on Pugh and Fraser streets, as well as the parking garage yet to be built.

Ed Holmes, parking and facilities coordinator for the borough, said it is still early to give any specifics of placing new signs, but the parking budget will allow for $60,000 towards the project.

Holmes said that one feature the signs may have is a changeable message strip like those signs used for parking during Penn State football games to direct traffic on Park Avenue.

"We still need to incorporate the new garage," he said, referring to the new parking garage planned for the southwest corner of Beaver Avenue and Fraser Street. Construction of the new garage may also dictate when the signs will be operational so the additional spaces will be incorporated.

Teresa Sparacino, Downtown Improvement District director, said the point of the signs is to improve traveling downtown.

"The goal is to relieve congestion and reduce vehicular trips through the downtown area and improve your downtown experience," she said.

Sparacino said the signs would be placed at the beginning of Beaver and College avenues downtown, but appropriate locations are still being discussed.

A design and prototype are still in the planning stages.

One of the concerns some State College Borough Council members raise is the appearance of the signs. Sparacino said members saw examples of other signs and did not like their design or appearance.

Mayor Bill Welch said the project was approved in the council's 2004 capital budget and has been carried through multiple council budgets for the past few years.

In a telephone voice message, council member Elizabeth Goreham said the project has not been approved for installation and is not authorized for implementation, but may be in the near future.

Some have said that, while the idea is good in theory, it might not be as effective in practice.

Bill Snyder of State College said that knowing where spaces are ahead of time doesn't help much.

"You don't need a sign to tell you where the parking spaces are until you're inside [the garage]," he said.