More Hill parking changes: Paid night parking on Broadway, more parking on side streets?

The same process that is transitioning Pike/Pine into a more regulated and hopefully more efficient parking environment is also underway around other areas of Capitol Hill's core. The Seattle Department of Transportation began studying the streets around Broadway back in March to gather information for how best to manage parking in the area. By October, SDOT hopes to have a plan in place. Two key strategies officials are talking about: introducing both-side-of-street parking on a set of streets just west of Broadway and piloting a test of paid parking on Broadway after 6 PM.

The moves would increase available on-street parking to relieve pressure on existing spaces in the area that were often at -- or over -- capacity during the March study. The data tables for the study illustrate just how chock full parking spots on Capitol Hill can be with utilization ranging from between 64% in the 1-hour time limit spaces to 95% over the course of the day in the unrestricted zones.

When looking at SDOT's numbers, remember they are aiming for moderate utilization around 70% and high compliance (a sign that people aren't so pressured for parking that they feel they ned to cheat). Given those parameters, you can see the need for SDOT to twiddle a few knobs.

Here is a map of the streets SDOT monitored for its March observations:

There are also some holes in SDOT's study methods:

• The study happened in March so includes seasonal factors
• The study mostly covered daylight hours so didn't capture the nighttime situation where pretty much everything in this area seems to go to 100%+ utilization
• The study was done by consultants manually counting cars. SDOT's Ruth Harper said that her department's methods might soon be improved, however, with the purchase of License Plate Recognition units that will allow a much more comprehensive, scalable collection of data. You may have read that the LPRs will also be used to give you tickets.

Even with those holes, however, SDOT is moving in the direction of increasing capacity. In the study write-up being distributed to Hill community groups, SDOT includes the following takeaways:

• 30-minute spaces have low utilization. Get rid of?
• 1-hour spaces have moderate utilization. Convert to 2-hour?
• Cal Anderson 3-hour parking is very full but compliance is high
• Unrestricted parking is very highly utilized but shows some turnover during day
• Low 1-hour utilization and poor compliance for 2-hour slots on 12th Ave suggest change needed
• Broadway 2-hour paystations create needed turnover when in effect
• Broadway's 30-minute parking slots also show low utilization
• Broadway parking is 100%+ full after 6p. Pilot after 6 PM paid parking?

As for the introduction of both-side-of-street parking on a few stretches west of Broadway, here's the roster SDOT is considering:

E Mercer between Bellevue and Harvard

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E Republican between Bellevue and Harvard

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E Harrison between Bellevue and Boylston

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E Thomas between Bellevue and Belmont, Boylston and Harvard

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E Olive between Bellevue and Boylston

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SDOT is also considering adding angled parking on one side of Summit and Bellevue Avenues between Pine and Olive

If you have feedback or questions as SDOT works to put together a plan for Broadway parking, drop Ruth Harper a note at capitolhillparking@seattle.gov

You can check out the SDOT Capitol Hill parking project site here.