For years, a weekend at the Fisher Family Pier often started at the corner of Atlantic Boulevard and North Ocean Boulevard. Drivers used a mix of paved and unpaved ground there that worked like a city lot, though the city never owned it. The land belongs to the developers of W Pompano Beach Hotel & Residences, a partnership of Related Group, BH Group and Marriott International. The New Pelican reported that the two lots held about 230 spaces combined. A W spokesperson told the paper the finished tower's garage would include 145 public spaces on its ground level. If both figures hold, the corner ends up about 85 spaces short of what it had. The same report said parking at the site would most likely be unavailable during construction.
That has now happened. The Sun Sentinel described the project as a 24-story tower at 20 N. Ocean Boulevard and estimated an October 2026 groundbreaking. The city responded by putting free weekend parking downtown, including the Old Town lot that serves Old Town Untapped, and running a shuttle from there to the pier. Over the next two months, the weekend beach and the Old Town calendar share the same parking.
The free parking moved downtown
On October 2, the city launched the Fishing Village Shuttle, a free, on-demand addition to the Pompano Circuit. The city's announcement says it is meant "to help reduce parking demand near the beach" as the W lot closes. It runs Friday through Sunday and on holidays, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. If you live inside the new service area, you can request a ride from your home or a business straight to the pier and back. If you live outside it, the city has set up two free Weekend Park & Ride lots:
- City Hall, 100 W. Atlantic Boulevard
- The Old Town parking lot at NE 2nd Street and NE 2nd Avenue
You request rides in the Ride Circuit app. The fleet is three vehicles, seating five, six and 15 passengers. Wheelchair-accessible service is available, and the vehicles take beach chairs, bags and coolers. Every trip runs directly between the beach and a home, business or Park & Ride lot. The city's Pompano Circuit page says the service doesn't carry riders between stops inside the expanded zone or between points within the beach area. So you can't use it to hop from the pier down to the Great Lawn. Three vehicles is a small fleet, so on a big event night it makes sense to request your ride home before the crowd leaves.
Driving to the sand still works, at weekend prices
The Pier Parking Garage at 3460 NE 3rd Street, between A1A and Pompano Beach Boulevard, is still the largest public option near the pier, with 609 spaces. Self-parking is on levels 2 through 4. Level 1 is valet. The city sets rates by zone and by day of the week:
| Zone | Where | Weekday | Weekend | Holiday/event |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zone 2 | Pier Garage | $1.80/hr | $2.50/hr | $3.25/hr |
| Zone 3 | Beach Lot, Briny Avenue, Pompano Beach Boulevard | $2.50/hr | $3.25/hr | $4.00/hr |
The garage is the cheaper of the two zones, and both charge more on weekends. The shuttle runs only on weekends and holidays, so the free option is available on exactly the days paid parking costs most. A Saturday afternoon in the garage costs about 40 percent more per hour than a Tuesday.
City residents can register for a 20 percent annual parking discount through PayByPhone with proof of residency, renewed each year. The discount is a separate program from the resident parking permit, which the city's parking FAQ lists as currently suspended. Check your eligibility on the city's page before you count on either one.
The fall calendar, sorted by the shuttle
Your plan for each night of the season depends on whether the shuttle is running and where the event is. The city's event listings put most of the big nights on Fridays and Saturdays, though not all of them.
| Date | Event | Where | Shuttle |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fri, Nov 6 | Old Town Untapped, 6–10 p.m. | Old Town, near BaCA | Running; the Old Town lot is a Park & Ride |
| Sat, Nov 7 | Drone Show Extravaganza, 5:30–9 p.m. | Fisher Family Pier, 222 N. Pompano Beach Blvd. | Running |
| Fri, Nov 13 | Music Under the Stars with Laura Goodstone, 7–9 p.m. | Great Lawn, Atlantic Blvd. and Pompano Beach Blvd. | Running |
| Sat, Nov 28 | Light Up MLK, 5–8 p.m. | Annie Adderly Gillis Park, 601 Dr. M.L.K. Jr. Blvd. | Not on the beach route |
| Thu, Dec 3 | Yuletide on Atlantic, 6:30–9:30 p.m. | Atlantic Blvd., Riverside Dr. west to SE 24th Ave. | Not running on Thursdays |
| Fri, Dec 4 | Old Town Untapped | Old Town | Running |
| Fri, Dec 11 | 64th Holiday Boat Parade, 6–9:30 p.m. | Intracoastal | Running, beach trips only |
| Fri, Dec 18 | Music Under the Stars with Happy Daze, 7–9 p.m. | Great Lawn | Running |
November 6 and 7 is the weekend where the new setup matters most. Friday night is Untapped in Old Town, where one of the Park & Ride lots is. On Saturday, Firefly Drone Shows flies 500 drones over the ocean just south of the pier from 7 to 7:15 p.m. for Veterans Day Weekend, sponsored by Fishing Village businesses. The city's event page closes the pier from 10 p.m. Friday until 7 a.m. Sunday. The north side is reserved for drone staging, so spectators gather on the beach south of the pier. Riverside Drive and parts of North Pompano Beach Boulevard and Atlantic Boulevard also close for the event. The beach parking left near the pier will be most in demand that evening, and the shuttle runs until 10 p.m., an hour after the program ends.
December 3 needs a different plan. Yuletide on Atlantic falls on a Thursday, when the Fishing Village Shuttle isn't running. The parade starts at Riverside Drive and heads west on Atlantic to SE 24th Avenue, with performances at Harbor Drive. That night you'll need to drive and pay, walk, or ride the regular Circuit within its current service area.
The boat parade on December 11 runs along the Intracoastal. The shuttle only goes to the pier and beach, so it won't take you to a viewing spot on the water. The Greater Pompano Beach Chamber is selling a $200 onboard experience this year, plus a $100 VIP viewing party at The Cove in Deerfield Beach.
The Old Town end of the ride
This summer, the beach and Old Town ran on different calendars, with Untapped off from June through September. Now Old Town also holds one of the two lots where beach trips start. The 2026–27 Untapped season opened October 2, the same day the shuttle launched, with Mama Fuma headlining. BroadwayWorld reported that the free block party brings live music, a DJ, gallery openings, local artists and food trucks to the area around Bailey Contemporary Arts. The same report says docents lead tours from 8 to 8:45 p.m. Cultural Affairs Director Ty Tabing described the night as one where music, galleries and artists come together in a single community event. BaCA's exhibition Into Neverland opened that night and runs through December 17, so both remaining fall Untapped nights fall during the show.
The blocks around the lot also have more to do than they did a year ago. The city reports that The Vault now operates in Old Town's historic bank building. Owner Jessica Spillman received $40,000 in façade and site support and $97,000 through the Strategic Investment Program. 26 Degrees Brewing Company added a kitchen and patio, and owner Yonathan Ghersi received about $101,000 toward the roughly $614,000 kitchen project, plus $20,000 for exterior work. On an Untapped Friday, parking once in Old Town now covers the brewery patio, the galleries and, while the shuttle runs until 10 p.m., a ride to the pier.
The new names along the Federal Highway side of downtown, per Pompano Beach Insider:
- GRUB – A Finer Diner, 14 N. Federal Hwy., announced an October 7 opening, with all-day breakfast from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.
- Vicky Bakery, 1154 N. Federal Hwy., is posted as "Baking Soon" with no opening date announced.
What else changes how you get around this fall
East Atlantic Boulevard, the road between the two ends of the shuttle route, has several projects underway. RimLay Seafood, a full-service Thai-Cajun seafood boil, is taking over the former La Terrazza Cubana at 3428 E. Atlantic Blvd. and is aiming for late November or December. Pho Bar Vietnamese Kitchen is building out at 2515 E. Atlantic Blvd. Its late-summer target has passed, and no new date has been announced. Close to the pier, Sea Glass Venue, from the owners of Galuppi's, is under construction at 116 N. Ocean Blvd. It is booking 2026 and 2027 events but hasn't announced an opening date.
Two infrastructure projects shape routes on the edges of town:
- McNab Road bridge. In its September 16 update, the city moved the bridge reopening target to November 1, 2026, after persistent rain, and kept December 2026 as the target for finishing the full streetscape project. Local residents and businesses keep access during the closure.
- Roy Rogers Park. Seawall cap, promenade and public dock work is phased through closures that last into early January 2027, with completion expected that month.
The W lot has the longest timeline on this list. The developers' project page estimates completion in 2028, and until then the 145 garage spaces won't exist. For at least two more beach seasons, the weekend route to the pier will start downtown.
If you live near the pier, or are thinking about a home near Fishing Village, you'll want to know how the W project, the shuttle zone and the Atlantic Boulevard openings affect your block. Latitude Key follows these details closely. Reach out and we'll put together a Pompano Beach plan for your street, covering parking, access and what is opening nearby.
