Town Center Parking Study Report Preliminary Draft Now Available

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.