PROVIDENCE – With more parcels along the former Interstate 195 corridor being developed, parking availability is often a concern in the area. But a new study presented to the I-195 Redevelopment District Commission on Wednesday concludes that future demand can be met by implementing parking and curbside management and providing additional parking facilities.
The study, conducted on the west side of the I-195 district by California-based consulting firm Nelson/Nygaard Consulting Associates, found that much of the current parking space goes unutilized. During peak times – midday during the week – the group found that only 33% of the spaces were full.
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“We understand that parking impacts so many other elements of transportation in a mixed-use district like this,” said Jason Novsam, the senior associate for Nelson/Nygaard who presented the group’s findings. “It is critical to get parking right in order to support local business health, transit reliability, biking accommodations and so on.”
Using aerial imagery, field surveys and outreach to property owners, the firm identified approximately 9,400 parking spaces available on the west side of I-195 land. Out of the 9,400 parking spots available, 8,500 are off-street spaces – of which 3,900 are available to the public – while nearly 900 are on-street spaces, the report found.
On-street parking was significantly more utilized, with 68% used during midday peak period, while only 30% of off-street parking was occupied. The group also determined that the most popular spaces were unregulated street parking and short-term meters, while off-street facilities tended to be underutilized and large off-street garages were only 38% capacity.
An online survey conducted with 227 people also seemed to indicate that finding parking is not extremely difficult. Out of all the respondents, 51% said they park a block or less from their destination, while 72% said they can find parking within five minutes.
To determine how parking availability can meet future demands, the group determined a “projected development program,” which looked at proposed development projects in the area and speculative future developments. Based on current and speculative developments, there will be an additional 1,634 spaces added – which includes a hypothetical eight-story garage that would hold roughly 500 spaces.
The group determined a future peak parking demand – for midday weekday – of 3,186 spaces. Removing the additional 1,634 spaces that will be added through developments on parcels, an additional 1,552 vehicles will need a space. That number can be easily met by the 2,906 unoccupied public spaces that already exist, primarily within garages, the consulting group said.
To ensure future parking demands are met, the group gave a few recommendations. These include implementing unbundled parking, which separates parking costs; improving the utilization of off-street parking; requiring shared parking, open to the public; and providing a parking garage as new development.
“It’s been several years since we last completed a parking study on the west side. A lot has changed,” said Caroline Skuncik, executive director of the commission. “We wanted to establish a new baseline for the current existing conditions and then project forward looking at what potential parking demands could be with a full build-out of our parcels on the west side.”
Sharon Steele, president of the Jewelry District Association, criticized the study for not being up-to-date. Because parking utilization data was collected in September 2022, it does not accurately reflect current parking demand and utilization in the area, she said.
“September 2022 data is not what it is seven months later and clearly the workforce is still changing how they are working,” Steele said. “We need to start with good data.”
Claudia Chiappa is a PBN staff writer. You may contact her at Chiappa@PBN.com.
