Mercer Island Parking Study

Walker Consultants and IDAX Solutions (subconsultant) lead a major parking condition and management study for the City of Mercer Island’s lively Town Center. Walker’s investigation provided the City of Mercer Island with recommendations to help modernize their parking management, transportation operations, and active mobility plan to match the community’s goals for a vibrant, walkable Town Center. The City of Mercer Island enlisted Walker to study the current parking system and commuting patterns to address concerns of downtown congestion and disorderly access to the Town Center area. Walker recognized early on that improvement strategies would need to include fundamental parking management changes, recommendations for transit, and active mobility solutions. Walker provided recommendations in three areas:

• Better on-street parking, including revised time limits, monitoring of residential parking, and adding payment to some street parking locations.
• More efficient use of overall parking supply through sharing agreements with private parking operators, and revitalized parking wayfinding navigation systems.
• Improve and encourage nondriving transportations in the city through bicycle parking and bike lanes, transportation demand programs, street redesigns to calm traffic, and additional onstreet parking.

Walker shared study recommendations through multiple community outreach events, city workshops, and review meetings with City officials to ensure the City and community reviewed and supported recommendations. Improvement of parking management, public transportation, and active mobility as a comprehensive approach to transportation in Mercer Island’s Town Center will provide easier access for everyone.