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Houghton holds parking forums

HOUGHTON -- Houghton residents talked about their parking habits and some of their concerns during a remote forum with parking consultants Wednesday night. 

Walker Consultants project manager Andrew Baglini and project consultant Eric Haggett led a virtual crowd of more than 40 people.

The end goal is recommending solutions and potential improvements in the downtown, Baglini said. 

The survey area extended from Franklin Square to the Kestner Waterfront Park. 

Houghton partnered on the forums with The Veridea Group of Marquette, which is in negotiations with the city to purchase the large parking area between Huron and Quincy streets. City officials have said any project would need to keep the same number of public parking spaces available. 

The consultants visited the area in February where they looked over the nearly 1,600 spaces in the area, counted parked vehicles and reviewed the city's parking regulations and signage. They also posted an online survey on downtown parking that drew more than 500 responses. 

Of the approximately 1,600 spaces, about 69% are public, and 78% are off-street, Baglini said. 

The peak demand came at about 10 a.m., when 44% of spaces were filled. That's not unusual, Baglini said. 

"Which makes sense if you think about it, with office workers there for their 9-to-5 jobs and then other people running errands in the mid to late mornings and then getting ready for the lunch hour," he said.

The busiest spots were at the parking lot by Roy's Pasties & Bakery, as well as private lots used by Michigan Technological University, Baglini said. 

The analysis will also factor in variations for tourism and parking spots that might be covered in snow piles during winter, Haggett said. 

One resident said he likes being able to park near local businesses, and typically parks near the back lot for close access to hardware and restaurants. If he can't find nearby parking, he's more likely to go elsewhere, such as the M-26 corridor. Reducing parking in the downtown would have negative consequences for businesses, he said. 

"I'm happy to walk a block in winter, but I'm not happy to walk two blocks in the winter if I can walk half a block somewhere else, especially if I have something heavy to carry," he said.

Another resident said she typically parks on the big deck rather than Shelden Avenue, as it is more likely to have spots open. Moving to angled parking would make finding spots on the street easier, she said. 

Baglini said many municipalities are moving away from angled parking on streets because of the risk issue. 

"I would believe we'd be hard-pressed to convince (Michigan Department of Transportation) to allow angled and reverse traffic to back up wrong-way on a one-way pair," City Manager Eric Waara said. 

Baglini asked where people look for spots if they are going to a business on the east end of Shelden Avenue. Councilor Mike Needham said street spots are usually more plentiful on that end. 

"But I can honestly say I don't ever have a problem finding a parking spot, either," he said. 

Responding to a question on issues with the time limits on parking, Joseph Dancy said he had missed a sign when he was visiting the area.

"If you're a visitor, and the signs aren't really evident, it's a little irritating," he said. "…Now I know not to park there, so it was a good lesson."

Other residents said the signage is often easy to miss. 

One advantage Houghton has is the consistency of its restrictions, Baglini said. Unlike some downtowns where the parking times vary block by block, Houghton is typically one hour on Shelden and two hours off-street. 

Jim Hertel, a member of the Houghton Waterfront Redevelopment Citizens Group, said parking in Houghton is "fantastic" and easily accessible. He asked the consultants what benchmarks they were using as comparisons. 

"We can always make it better, but I would sure hate to start to model our parking decisions on something that would be a higher-density larger metropolis," he said. 

Baglini said the consultants recognized the uniqueness of Houghton, and weren't looking to make direct comparisons.

"We won't be doing any comparable analysis with a Marquette or a Sault Ste. Marie, but we do look at other similarly-sized markets for ideas and best practices," he said. 

Consultants also met earlier in the day with downtown business owners and residents, as well as city employees. After Wednesday's meetings, the consultants will look at the feedback from Wednesday's sessions and also analyze policies, procedures and municipal code. 

From there they will recommend policies to create an integrated and sustainable parking system, Baglini said. 

Additional questions or suggestions about downtown parking can be sent to abaglini@walkerconsultants.com or ehaggett@walkerconsultants.com.