Town Center Parking Study

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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.

  • 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.

  • Draft Town Center Parking Study Report Now Available

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    Today, the City released the draft Town Center Parking Study Report.

    Download the report: https://letstalk.mercergov.org/11233/widgets/32849/documents/40844

    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.

    Staff will present the draft report to City Council on Tuesday, March 21, and seek direction on next steps. Find agenda packet materials and details for joining the meeting here.

    We plan to provide opportunities for the community to give feedback on the report before it is adopted and share details about those opportunities here after March 21.

Page last updated: 18 May 2023, 02:06 PM