Town Center Parking Study

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The Town Center Parking Study is complete and this page will no longer be updated. The final Parking Plan document and information about future projects, public engagement opportunities, etc., can be found here: www.mercerisland.gov/community/page/town-center-parking-plan

Access—whether using a car, public transportation, walking, or biking—plays an integral role in the economic vitality of Mercer Island’s Town Center. Recognizing this reality, the City is identifying ways to improve access options to, in, and around Town Center and create more community-oriented spaces. The Town Center Parking Study will result in an action plan intended to make real improvements to the day-to-day lives of the people who work, live, and play in Town Center.

Project Objectives

  • Understand parking needs for customers, employees, business owners, and residents.
  • Develop strategies to better manage parking, improve walkability, and create more access.
  • Support

Access—whether using a car, public transportation, walking, or biking—plays an integral role in the economic vitality of Mercer Island’s Town Center. Recognizing this reality, the City is identifying ways to improve access options to, in, and around Town Center and create more community-oriented spaces. The Town Center Parking Study will result in an action plan intended to make real improvements to the day-to-day lives of the people who work, live, and play in Town Center.

Project Objectives

  • Understand parking needs for customers, employees, business owners, and residents.
  • Develop strategies to better manage parking, improve walkability, and create more access.
  • Support our local economy by leveraging streets and sidewalks to create vibrant community spaces for gathering and outdoor dining.

Get Involved

The outcomes of this project will address access and travel options in Town Center for the entire Mercer Island community, today and in the future. Everyone living, working, and visiting Town Center is a key partner in this work. Use this page to share your feedback, influence our work, and stay up to date on other ways to have your voice heard.

About the Team

The City has contracted with Walker Consultants to complete this work. Walker is a global parking and transportation consulting firm with offices in Seattle and around the U.S. Walker possesses a strong foundation as an industry leader in all aspects of parking and curb use, including planning, operations, policy, design, financing, and technology. Recent Western U.S. projects include revitalizing the parking and curb access programs in Boulder, CO, in which Walker pivoted to implement a COVID-19-safe community engagement strategy that ultimately engaged nearly 10,000 participants, and a downtown parking and mobility plan and parklet program for Benicia, CA.

Specific Walker team members include Chrissy Mancini-Nichols, the project manager and National Director of Curb Management and New Mobility, and Mallory Baker, the firm’s national community engagement lead, among others.

The Town Center Parking Study is complete and this page will no longer be updated. The final Parking Plan document and information about future projects, public engagement opportunities, etc., can be found here: www.mercerisland.gov/community/page/town-center-parking-plan

  • Town Center Parking Plan Adopted November 2023

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    The Mercer Island City Council adopted the Town Center Parking Plan on November 21, 2023. Recommendations identified in the Parking Plan will be implemented over time through various City department work plans. Updates will be shared through City channels, and, when necessary, feature additional public engagement opportunities.

    This Let's Talk page will be archived in the coming days; the final Parking Plan document and information about future projects, public engagement opportunities, etc., can be found on the City website.

    Thank you to all the local businesses, Town Center residents, and other community members who participated in the process to develop this Parking Plan!

  • City Council Reviews Town Center Parking Study Draft on October 17

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    Mercer Island City Council will review the draft Town Center Parking Study at its regular hybrid meeting on October 17, 2023. During the meeting, staff will review public comment received on the Study, discuss any final changes requested by the City Council, provide an update on early actions items, and seek direction to finalize the Study for adoption. The Study is tentatively scheduled to be adopted by the Council on November 21.

    Agenda materials for the meeting are available here (the Town Center Parking Study review is Agenda Item #12). The hybrid meeting will be broadcast live on MITV Channel 21 and live streamed on the City Council’s YouTube Channel. Instructions for attending/watching the meeting and/or speaking are available below. This post will be updated with the video link and timestamp for the discussion following the meeting.


    Registering to Speak: Individuals wishing to speak live during Appearances must register their request with the City Clerk's Office at 206.275.7793 or cityclerk@mercerisland.gov by 4pm on October 17. Please reference "Appearances" in your correspondence and state if you would like to speak in person at Mercer Island Community & Event Center or remotely using Zoom. Each speaker will be allowed three (3) minutes to speak. A timer will be visible online to speakers, City Council, and meeting participants. Please be advised that there is a time delay between the Zoom broadcast and the YouTube or Channel 21 broadcast.

    Public Appearances: Notify the City Clerk in advance if you will be providing your comments in person at Mercer Island Community & Event Center or remotely using Zoom. If providing your comments using Zoom, staff will be prepared to permit temporary video access when you enter the live Council meeting. Please remember to activate the video option on your phone or computer, ensure your room is well lit, and kindly ensure that your background is appropriate for all audience ages Screen sharing will not be permitted, but documents may be emailed to Council.

    Join by Telephone at 5pm (Appearances will start sometime after 6pm): To listen to the meeting via telephone, please call 253.215.8782 and enter Webinar ID 833 8507 2246 and Password 730224 if prompted.

    Join by Internet at 5pm (Appearances will start sometime after 6pm): To watch the meeting over the internet via your computer, follow these steps:

    1. Click this link.
    2. If the Zoom app is not installed on your computer, you will be prompted to download it.
    3. If prompted, enter Webinar ID 833 8507 2246 and Password 730224.
    4. The City Clerk will call on you by name when it is your turn to speak. Please confirm that your audio works prior to participating.

    Join in person at Mercer Island Community & Event Center at 5pm (Appearances will start sometime after 6pm): The Community Center is located at 8236 SE 24th Street.

    Submitting Written Comments: Email written comments to the City Council at council@mercerisland.gov.

  • Public Hearing on Report Draft Scheduled for September 19

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    The Mercer Island City Council will hold a public hearing to receive input on the draft Town Center Parking Study Report during its regular hybrid meeting on Tuesday, September 19, 2023.

    The public hearing will be held in person and virtually using Zoom. The public will have the opportunity to comment during the public hearing by attending in person, calling in, or logging onto the meeting as a Zoom attendee. Written comments may be submitted to the City of Mercer Island by e-mail to council@mercerisland.gov until such time that the public hearing is adjourned.

    Detailed instructions on how to comment live during the public hearing will be available online on or before September 13, 2023, at www.mercerisland.gov/citycouncil.

    Can't attend the public hearing? Community members can also provide feedback through 11:59pm on September 19 in the following ways:

    1. Post your comments on Let's Talk using the Comment Forum.
    2. E-mail your comments directly to Sarah Bluvas, CIP Project Manager, at sarah.bluvas@mercerisland.gov

  • Town Center Parking Study Report Preliminary Draft Now Available

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    On July 6, 2023, the Mercer Island City Council directed staff to resume the process to review and adopt the 2022 Town Center Parking Study Report (AB 6291 | Video; discussion begins at approximately 3:02:00). The updated preliminary draft is now available for review and comment. Keep reading to download the report and learn more.

    Click to download the report preliminary draft.


    What is included in the report?

    The report features five main sections and four supporting appendices:

    Sections

    A. Project Overview – Introduces the project goals and summarizes the recommendations.

    B. Parking Inventory & Utilization – Presents parking inventory, parking utilization, length of stay analysis, and other data collected in June 2022.

    C. Community Outreach Activities – Summarizes the community outreach methods, number of participants, and key findings.

    D. Strategies & Recommendations – Outlines three strategies for managing the Town Center parking system and the associated recommendations, actions, and support.

    E. Implementation – Includes an implementation matrix with timing and anticipated resource impacts as well as guidance for ongoing monitoring.

    Appendices

    A. Community Engagement Plan – Public participation plan scoped for this project.

    B. Detailed Community Engagement Findings – Documents all comments, mapping activity inputs, and survey responses as well as aggregates responses from focus group participants.

    C. Background Studies and Current Programs Review – Summarizes review of background plans, studies, and documents related to Town Center parking, mobility, and planning.

    D. Mercer Island Park and Ride User Surveys – Includes Park and Ride data collected by Sound Transit in 2014 and 2015.


    How were the Strategies and Recommendations developed?

    Strategies and Recommendations included in this report are derived from an assessment of existing Town Center conditions and parking operations, conversations with community members and governing decision makers, and evaluation of the best practices and actionable steps that may best achieve the goals for Town Center parking. The recommendations intend to work together to achieve City Council’s stated goals and to ultimately make parking more functionally available, usable for different users, and supportive of other options for non-driving travel to and around Town Center.


    Why does the report show parking counts from 2022?

    The Town Center Parking Study was conducted in 2022 by Walker Consultants, a global parking and transportation firm with offices in Seattle and around the US. Data such as parking stall inventory and utilization was collected in June 2022 to inform the Strategies and Recommendations, which were developed in fall 2022. On March 21, 2023, the City Council directed staff to pause the process to adopt the parking study report until the State Legislative Session concluded in April 2023 (Video; discussion begins at approximately 56:32). During the pause, the City collected 2023 parking data, including new utilization counts. Staff will review the 2023 data with the City Council and seek direction on next steps later this year.


    How do I comment on the report draft?

    First, download and review the preliminary draft. After you review the report, share your feedback in a few ways:

    1. Post your comments on Let's Talk using the Comment Forum.
    2. E-mail your comments directly to Sarah Bluvas, CIP Project Manager, at sarah.bluvas@mercerisland.gov.
    3. Participate in the Public Hearing scheduled for September 19, 2023. The public hearing will be held in person and virtually using Zoom, and the public may comment by attending in person, calling in, or logging onto the meeting as a Zoom attendee. Written comments may also be submitted to the City Council by e-mail at council@mercerisland.gov until the public hearing is adjourned. Detailed instructions on how to comment live during the public hearing will be available online on or before September 13, 2023, at www.mercerisland.gov/citycouncil.


    Your comments will inform the process to adopt the final report by the end of 2023. Thank you for sharing your feedback, and stay tuned for more information about next steps, which will be shared on Let's Talk when available.

  • Upcoming Town Center Parking Counts

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    Staff from IDAX, a multimodal data collection firm the City uses for transportation data needs, will update parking data in and around Town Center this spring. Collection plans include inventorying parking spaces at the Mercer Island Park & Ride and North Mercer Restricted Parking District in May and conducting usage counts in multiple areas on Thursday, June 8, and Saturday, June 10.

    This work is being done on behalf of the City to continue studying Town Center parking needs and inform future parking/transportation improvements. IDAX conducted parking inventory and usage counts in June 2022 as part of the Town Center Parking Study. Insights from the 2023 data collection effort will be shared with the community later this year.

  • City Council Pauses Review of Town Center Parking Study Report

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    On March 21, City Council received the draft Town Center Parking Study Report and voted to suspend finalizing the report until after the State Legislative Session concludes (Video; discussion begins at approximately 56:32). Several legislative bills under consideration may have an impact on parking in Town Center, and the City is actively engaged with legislators to oppose any bill language that preempts the City’s ability to regulate parking. Staff will update Let’s Talk when work to finalize the Town Center Parking Study Report resumes.

    Additionally, Council directed staff to return later this year with a plan for implementing early actions to continue progress on improving Town Center parking and mobility. Some “quick wins” include:

    • Updating parking counts, including MI Park & Ride and Town Center/RPD permit zones.
    • Observing ADA parking usage.
    • Observing bicycle usage and identifying locations for/relocating additional bicycle parking.
    • Evaluating and modifying parking citation fees.
    • Improving wayfinding to and promoting availability of public parking in Town Center parking garages.

    Follow along on Let’s Talk for more details about these early steps to improve parking and access in Town Center.