Long-Awaited Downtown Parking Study Released
MIDLAND, Mich. — The long awaited results of a comprehensive study of the parking situation downtown have been released.
The City of Midland hired Rich and Associates, a full service parking consultant firm, to conduct a parking study and provide recommendations. The study was conducted during the summer months, last year.
Rich and Associates Senior Project Manager and Director of Project Planning David Burr presented the firm’s study results to the Downtown Development Authority in February.
“The process was quite involved. We did a number of online surveys, downtown customers and visitors, downtown business owners, their employees. We conducted a number of individual stakeholder interviews while we were here. We also inventoried the parking supply, and in that, we quantified all of the parking, both public and private, within our defined study area,” he told the Downtown Development Authority.
Mr. Burr said that the study looked at the current situation and then also planned for future needs.
“We quantified the parking needs as they exist today, and how we expect them to exist in the future. We’re looking about three years out. That reflects the impact of Delta College being online, in the downtown, with their initial students,” he said.
96 percent of the study’s survey respondents said that they drive to the downtown area, and 60 percent park on the street. 29 percent of respondents said that they park in public lots, and 6 percent said that they park in private lots. Mr. Burr said that he found those numbers interesting because private lots account for most of the downtown area’s parking. The average stay for a downtown visitor is 2 hours and 17 minutes, Mr. Burr said, and the average distance from parking spot to destination is just over a block- and-a-half.
There are 4,959 total parking spots downtown. Of those, only 30 percent are designated as ‘public.’
“For a city of your size, to have almost 5,000 parking spaces, there really should be sufficient parking. Now, some of that certainly is not as convenient as may be, it includes spaces over by the ball diamond, and some other spaces, but your quantity of parking…” Mr. Burr said as he trailed off.
The study provided ten major recommendations for downtown Midland’s parking.
“While there are existing pockets of deficit conditions, the existing overall surplus of the parking system should mean that spaces should be available within a reasonable walking distance,” the study says, “The primary issue identified by Rich is that many of the publicly available parking areas are not clearly identified or that some require payment at a meter while the vast majority of public parking is free. This means that the paid spaces will be the last choice sought even though they may be convenient to some destinations.”
The study recommended an increase in signage for visitors, particularly for public lots.
“Each public lot should be clearly identified. Any spaces within the lot which are intended for permit use should also be clearly signed. Of particular importance in this regard, the existing Larkin Street structure currently has no signs indicating that it has public parking on the ground floor during the daytime hours. Also, there are not any signs on the interior of the garage that all parking is available for public use after hours and on weekends,” the study said.
Parking enforcement must also change, the study recommended.
“Enforcement is a two-part process. Not only must violators be cited, but those citations have to be collected. If parkers don’t feel that there will be a citation for violating the regulations, then the rules will be ignored. Similarly, if citations are issued but there are no repercussions for ignoring the citation, again the rules will be ignored. Even if citations are issued and collected, a low probability of getting caught or a low fine rate can also encourage persons to ignore the rules. If someone is cited infrequently, they may consider the parking fine their cost of parking, particularly if the fine amount is low,” the study said.
The study brought up the possibility of using volunteers as parking enforcement agents on a random schedule, instead of just one paid agent with a set, predictable schedule.
Well-maintained parking spaces are generally more used, the study said. Maintenance was the third recommendation. The fourth recommendation was the utilization of the Larking Street Parking Garage. The study recommended additional signage to make it clear when the garage is open to the public. The study brought up the proposition of implementing a paid parking system.
“The City could implement a comprehensive paid parking system where the most convenient on-street and off-street spaces are paid while the less convenient spaces are still free. The use of the paid parking would be with the intent of having those who use the parking system, provide the funds necessary to support the costs of operating and maintaining the parking system,” the study said.
Rich and Associates recommended that the City maintain the three-hour time limit on street parking. Street parking spots are the most sought after, in downtown Midland, the study said.
The new Delta College facility planned for downtown provides significant parking challenges to the City. The proposed lot for the new building will have 31 spaces, and the college anticipates approximately 300 students each day.
“Without a class schedule, in order to quantify the parking need, Rich took the number of students in class pattern from a previous college study and prorated the student volume to the 300-daily volume from Delta College. Here we assumed about 85 percent of students would drive and park themselves resulting in a peak volume of 255 cars at approximately 10:30 am on most weekdays,” the study says. “Although the model shows declining demand by the 12:00 noon daytime peak as determined for other uses around the downtown, given the number of unknowns at this point, Rich is maintaining the 255-student car peak through the 12:00 noon hour to account for a “worse-case” condition. The addition of 20 teachers brings the required parking need to 275 spaces at peak.”
Michael Westendorf is the chairman and executive editor of Chemical City Paper. As Executive Editor, he leads the City Paper’s news coverage and editorial team.