District 1 City Councilmember Lisa Herbold shared information regarding a parking study now underway in West Seattle.
"SDOT has begun a “West Seattle Area Access Study,” in the West Seattle Junction/Triangle area. They will be conducting a commercial area parking study, and a Residential Parking Zone study.
The study area includes the West Seattle Junction and Triangle areas and is bounded by 36th Avenue Southwest to the east, southwest Dakota street to the north, 46th Avenue Southwest to the west and Southwest Dawson Street to the south.
This is being done as part of a City-wide study of parking. Typically, the addition of paid parking in an area is designed to increase parking capacity on streets that don’t have much available parking. The idea is that when people pay for parking they don’t stay as long which in turn frees up more curb space for more people needing to park. When SDOT presented the proposed study at the Sustainability and Transportation Committee several months ago, I requested that SDOT be sensitive to the unique nature of the Alaska Junction, and specifically include consideration of the extra capacity that the off-street parking contributes to the area in their study. They agreed, and they will be including the presence of the free off-street parking in their study.
You can take the survey here through October 31; here’s the project fact sheet.
If SDOT identifies any potential changes, they will be available for public comment in early 2018.
In 2010, the City Council adopted the “Performance-Based Parking Program,” incorporated into SMC 11.16.121. SDOT completed a performance based parking study in 2011. SDOT policy is designed to ensure availability of 1-2 open spaces per blockface (i.e. one side of a block). This can involve setting time limits for parking, or adding paid parking. SDOT updates parking rates based on annual review of the areas with paid parking, lowering or increasing rates toward the goal of 1-2 open spaces; they also conduct parking studies of other neighborhoods.
Of Seattle’s 7 Council Districts, District 1 and District 5 (North Seattle) are the only districts in Seattle without any on-street paid parking zones.
SDOT last studied parking in the West Seattle Junction in 2009 and didn’t recommend any paid parking; an earlier citywide parking study in 2002 also mentioned the West Seattle Junction.
If you have questions or comments about the West Seattle Area Comprehensive Parking Study, please contact Jonathan Williams of SDOT at 206-733-9026 or WestSeattleParking@seattle.gov."
