City Looks at Parking Management in Downtown, University Area
Public Works Director Scott Schatschneider shows city leaders some ideas for parking near St. Michael’s Hospital. (City-Times photo)
By Brandi Makuski
The City of Stevens Point is once again turning its attention to downtown parking management.
The city announced Monday it would release an RFP- a request for proposal- for area engineering companies to draft proposals for the job of analyzing and creating a plan for parking management downtown and off-campus areas surrounding UW-Stevens Point.
The city had a parking analysis performed about ten years ago, and again in 2013. Last year’s study included potential for new electronic “smart meters” to help control parking in the city. But Community Development Director Michael Ostrowski said the meters were too expensive, and also added that study focused largely on parking around the university campus. This new study, he said, would cast a wider net.
“We want a good idea of all our problem areas from the get-go,” Ostrowski said after Monday’s Board of Public Works meeting. “That way we can look at the bigger picture and decide how to proceed based on the city’s needs.”
No cost estimates for the project are yet available, but Public Works Director Scott Schatschneider said that’s part of the reason for the RFP.
“We’d like to select ideas and potential costs from engineering firms to get an idea of what it would cost to put together a game plan on how we’d like to approach our parking issues near the university and downtown,” Schatschneider said.
Alderwoman Joanne Suomi, who has held regular town hall meetings on parking issues within the city’s second district, said she “fully supports” the move.
“The only thing I want the proposal to include analysis of permit parking or zone parking,” she said. Zone and permit parking have been regular suggestions from constituents who live in residential neighborhoods near the university, many of whom say permits would also help quell the number of students illegally occupying rental units in the area.
But city leaders couldn’t move ahead without first including analysis of bicycle parking within the management plan request.
“Downtown has a severe shortage of bicycle parking,” said Stevens Point resident Bob Fisch. “Much of what currently exists is of substandard quality that does not meet current zoning codes for bicycle parking and new commercial developments.”
He added he believes as many as 10 bicycles could be parked in the same space as a single vehicle, bringing more foot-traffic to the downtown area without the additional congestion.
Resident Cathy Dugan also suggested the plan include parking analysis for county buildings including the Lincoln Center and a new health care center. She also suggested heightened communication between the city and the county.
“They didn’t know you were doing a parking analysis,” she said. “I think somehow, the county campus should be included in this.”
City leaders voted to include a study of bicycle parking options within the RFP. Proposals for the project are due August 22 and Mayor Andrew Halverson said depending on the proposals returned, he’d like to be prepared to include the project’s cost in the 2015 budget.