Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
City hopes to remedy parking woes
Consultant gives glimpse of revamped downtown
FAYETTEVILLE — City officials need to partner with businesses, make mobile payment the norm and simplify signs and pricing structures to avoid “parksageddon” downtown, according to a consultant hired to allay the city’s parking woes.
Jason Schrieber, consultant with Nelson/Nygaard, provided City Council members on Tuesday a glimpse at a revamped approach to all things parking. The council last year paid $585,000 to the San Francisco-based consulting firm to help update the city’s parking and transportation plans.
Downtown near Dickson Street and the Fayetteville square features more than 9,000 spaces with about 3,800 of them publically owned, according to the Nelson/ Nygaard study. The solution lies largely in opening those business- and church-owned spots to the public at-large, Schrieber said.
The consultants set a goal of freeing 80 percent of the entire parking landscape in some way, equating to about 3,000 more spots available at certain times of day for people going to different destinations. The goal will require partnership and effort but would be far less costly than building another deck, Schrieber said.
Cities such as Ann Arbor, Mich., have clearly marked city signs on private lots, Schrieber said. He showed an example of a downtown Fayetteville sign that reads, “2 HR TIME LIMIT FOR PARKING ON SQUARE DURING ANY FOUR HR PERIOD.”
“When there’s both public and private signs saying different things for everybody’s individual needs, that
can be very confusing,” Schrieber said.
The city also should up the ante technology- wise with consistent mobile pay ability, according to the study. Prevalent spaces, such as the West Avenue lot in front of the Walton Arts Center and spots along Dickson Street, have credit card kiosks and access to the paybyphone app. Private lots have no such thing and coin-only machines still line the square. In the long term, the city could look at pay-by-plate enforcement and coordinate with business owners on smart meters, Schrieber said.
Alderman Alan Long said people need to know where they can park, for how much and if they can pay in advance.
The city’s pricing structure also doesn’t match the demand. More spots farther away from the “core” of downtown should cost less or be free, which alleviates congestion in key areas. The consultants suggested four pricing “tiers” as opposed to the current six and a possible shuttle service.
“Right now, literally people don’t even think to go off of Dickson,” Schrieber said.
Alderman Mark Kinion of Ward 2, which covers downtown, said consistency is key.
“The whole idea is to have a destination,” he said. “You want it easy for folks from outside.”
The consultants also suggested a permitting system in which residents would allow drivers to park in their spots during the day. Money from the arrangements could go into a neighborhood improvement fund like Boulder, Colo., has with its residential parking benefit districts.
The city right now could improve sidewalks and street design to make walking from a farther-away parking spot more inviting, according to the study. It also could improve event parking by packaging parking spaces with show tickets or dinner reservations. Simpler signs and expanding the use of the mobile app and electronic kiosks also would provide relatively quick relief, the study found.
Parking should be looked at as a customer service through and through, the study says.
The City Council hasn’t taken any action so far with the consultants’ recommendations. A series of mobility plan workshops will be held this week to gain resident feedback.
Alderman Alan Long said people need to know where they can park, for how much and if they can pay in advance.