Capitol parking needs put in focus

Demolition work began this month near the Capitol to remove a worn-down office building at Capitol Way and 11th Avenue along with two older parking structures. The knock-downs are part of an $82 million project to build a new energy-efficient headquarters for the State Patrol and a few small state agencies.

So far, so good. But we think this is also a good time to revisit the state’s parking needs at the Capitol Campus in a way that relies on collaboration with the city of Olympia.

The demolished parking garages won’t be replaced, and 261 parking stalls are being lost. The state is saving about $15 million by not building a new parking structure.

Both Mayor Stephen Buxbaum and state Sen. Karen Fraser, D-Thurston County, have spoken of wanting a larger state-city look at parking (mostly Buxbaum) and traffic circulation (mostly Fraser). The findings of a state-hired parking consultant suggest there is wisdom in doing that.

In a nutshell, Portland-based consultant Rick Williams told the state Department of Enterprise Services more than a year ago that the building project would strain the Capitol Campus parking system, which then had 6,095 parking stalls at 35 sites including parking garages and lots.

Williams found there are usually about 964 empty parking stalls but that the parking system effectively is maxed out during peak morning times during legislative sessions. That is when there is a 582-vehicle increase, and motorists have trouble finding vacant places to park.

Williams found the state could blunt the effects by expanding telework programs for state employees and by reducing the frequency with which employees and visitors arrive alone in their cars. He called for finding ways to let Capitol visitors know where the many small caches of vacant parking are located. The consultant also suggested new lane striping in the east campus parking garage to allow a few more stalls.

Partly in response, Enterprise Services is embarking on a project — demanded by lawmakers — to develop a balanced parking strategy by Nov. 1.

One requirement for the strategy is that the state make more parking available to employees and visitors on a first-come, first-served basis. That means DES must reduce the share of reserved parking from 26 percent to 15 percent, provide an analysis showing the cost and benefit of using parking lot attendants during sessions, and include two or more electronic signboards showing the availability of parking in the east campus garage.

Language in the capital budget, which ordered up the strategy, also called on the state to work in cooperation with the city. It left open the opportunity for Olympia to submit a plan that could include its role in parking enforcement on the Capitol Campus. The city already deals with parking effects on its neighborhoods.

These are good steps, but only a start. Gov. Jay Inslee also signed an executive order in March 2014 that ordered agencies to improve their commute-trip reduction efforts.

Executive Order 14-02 noted that 6.8 percent of workers in a 2011 survey were using telework options (working from home at least once every two weeks) and 29 percent had flexible work hours. The order set a goal of 9 percent teleworking and 40 percent on flexible schedules by 2017.

Clearly more work is needed by all parties.

This story was originally published September 15, 2015 at 2:30 PM with the headline "Capitol parking needs put in focus."