Steve Clark

New parking kiosks and time limit zones will be deployed around downtown Ballard starting on November 14th.

The kiosks will replace existing coin meters. Stickers are affixed to vehicle windows to show proof of payment, which can be made with cash or credit cards. New short term parking zones will be used to create more short term, retail parking in the area.

The parking deployment follows a study the city conducted to gauge local sentiment to a change in area parking restrictions. Department of Transportation officials have not found a strong negative reaction to the new strategy .

"Once those babies went in, we didn't hear much about it," said Meghan Shepard, associate transportation planner with Seattle Department of Transportation, during a meeting at the Ballard District Council on Wednesday, October 12.

Shepard said that following pay station installation, meters greeters in red caps and vest would be available until the end of the holiday shopping season to help first-time users get comfortable with using pay stations.

Generally, paid parking improves parking turnover where compliance with the time-limit signs is poor. During the Ballard evaluation, SDOT found that the two-hour spaces with parking meters had sufficient availability throughout the day and average stays under 1-hour in length. In contrast, the 1- and 2-hour signs had many instances of vehicles staying beyond the time limit, thereby limiting access by additional customers and visitors to area businesses.

Paid parking will be installed on NW Market Street between 20th Avenue NW and 24th Avenue NW, as well as around the block of 22nd Avenue NW, NW 57th Street, and 24th Avenue NW. Two-hour time-limit signs will be installed on Russell and Leary Avenues NW between NW Market Street and 20th Avenue NW, as well as around the east, south and west sides of the block where the new Ballard Commons Park will be located.

Other streets in the area will be periodically monitored to see if future commercial development increases the need for additional customer parking.

Shane Dir, president of the Crown Hill Business Association, asked if any there were any plans underway for parking measures in the Crown Hill area. Shepard did not know of any specific plans but said the area deserved further study since much of the city's previous transportation planning in Crown Hill related to monorail stations.