[Durham INC] Durham Hosts Downtown Parking Study Open Houses February 20

[PublicAffairs]

[Title: City of Durham Office of Public Affairs logo]

For Details Contact
Amy Blalock, Public Affairs Manager

919.560.4123 x11253  |  919.475.7735 (mobile)

Amy.Blalock at DurhamNC.gov<mailto:Amy.Blalock at DurhamNC.gov>




News Release
For Immediate Release: February 9, 2018

Durham Hosts Downtown Parking Study Open Houses February 20

DURHAM, N.C. – Parking in downtown Durham is in high demand, and in order for the City of Durham to plan for the Bull City’s needs over the next 10 years, a downtown parking study<http://www.parkdurham.org/Home/2017-Parking-Study-Project> is underway and public input is needed.

The City’s Transportation Department is hosting four open houses on Tuesday, February 20 at 11 a.m., 1 p.m., 4 p.m., and 6 p.m. at the Durham Armory, 220 Foster Street. During these four drop-in style meetings residents, business owners, and other downtown stakeholders will learn about the existing conditions analysis and initial strategies being proposed by the City’s consultant, Nelson\Nygaard, to improve downtown parking. Participants will also have the opportunity to discuss their own ideas for improving downtown parking. Light refreshments will also be served.

These open houses are part of the downtown parking study that kicked off in November 2017 to help the department understand the nature of parking in light of emerging trends, plan for Durham’s future needs, and build on the findings of the 2013 Comprehensive Parking Study<http://durhamnc.gov/1085/Comprehensive-Parking-Studies>.

As part of the study, public input was sought late last year to learn more about parking habits – how and where residents and visitors use downtown parking facilities – and more importantly, ways to improve parking through an online survey that was completed by 1,541 people, and 23 community engagement sessions that were held to speak directly with downtown stakeholders about ways to improve parking.

The study area<http://www.parkdurham.org/Portals/0/2017_Parking_Study/2017%20Downtown%20Parking%20Study%20Area.png> encompasses most of the extended downtown area from approximately Buchanan Avenue east to Elm Street and from Trinity Avenue south to Lakewood Avenue. According to Thomas Leathers, administrator of the Parking Management Division with the City’s Transportation Department, the results of this study will guide the downtown parking program over the next decade, and build upon the 2013 study findings. “As Durham continues to experience significant growth, we need feedback from downtown parking stakeholders on their thoughts about parking with a focus on ways to further improve our parking policies, operations, and management.”

In addition to collecting parking feedback from the public, the study also includes an assessment of the supply and demand for downtown public parking, and includes a determination on the need for additional parking in both short-term and future development scenarios. The study also includes strategies to improve the maintenance and management of City-owned surface parking lots, garages, and on-street parking spaces and will evaluate the days and hours of parking enforcement, current parking restrictions, and associated wayfinding signage effectiveness.

The study will also provide ways to provide safe, convenient parking for all downtown users including residents, employees, and visitors as well as accommodations for special events and determine the need and feasibility for demand-based pricing or changes to current parking rates. Finally, the study will provide recommended design improvements to increase the efficiency of City-owned parking facilities, to include improvements to parking-related signs and other wayfinding, and/or new parking facilities.

The City’s Transportation Department plans to present the final study results and recommendations to the Durham City Council in spring 2018. For more information about the downtown parking study<http://www.parkdurham.org/Home/2017-Parking-Study-Project>, contact Leathers at (919) 560-4366, ext. 36207 or by email at Thomas.Leathers at DurhamNC.gov<mailto:Thomas.Leathers at DurhamNC.gov>.

About the Transportation Department
The Transportation Department<http://durhamnc.gov/1002/Transportation> is responsible for a broad range of transportation services, which include traffic signs and signals, transportation planning, parking operations<http://www.parkdurham.org/>, street lighting, taxicab administration, and bicycle and pedestrian planning. The department also oversees GoDurham<http://godurhamtransit.org/> and GoDurham ACCESS<http://godurhamtransit.org/access> as well as leads planning functions for the Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organization<http://www.dchcmpo.org/> (DCHC MPO), which is the regional organization that is responsible for planning and programming state and federal transportation projects in the urbanized areas of Durham, Orange, and Chatham counties. Guided by the City’s Strategic Plan<http://durhamnc.gov/183/Strategic-Plan>, the department helps to strengthen the foundation, enhance the value, and improve the quality and sustainability of neighborhoods that are necessary for a strong and diverse community.

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[Title: City of Durham Office of Public Affairs Contact Information]



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