Video: Prime downtown parking lost to bicycle lane

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SEATTLE - Thirty-eight parking spots disappeared from the streets around the King County courthouse and Seattle City Hall late last month.

"If you have a court appointment or something like that, you're running late for it and then you have to circle the block for several minutes looking for a space and most likely you won't find it," said Peter Richmond.

The culprit - a new bicycle lane on 4th Avenue.

Now there are just 150 on street spots in this neighborhood, pushing the public to the more than 11,000 private parking lot spaces, which come at a premium.

"You just circle around until you get too frustrated and realize you know, since we're on the job you can't spend too much time looking for a parking spot just to save a few dollars," said Richmond.

The city's Department of Transportation made the change to turn Fourth Avenue into a corridor for cyclists.

Fourth Avenue is on an incline along this stretch of road between Yesler and Spring Streets which means that bicyclists are pedaling uphill, maybe a little bit slower. That's why traffic officials felt it was important for them to have their own lane so that vehicles could continue going their normal pace.

The private lots don't come cheap - up to $12 an hour versus three on the street.

"Bike lanes are great, a lot of people ride bikes, you need them. But they've got to have some parking too. And it's just not there. It's kind of a pain," said Yvonne White.

City officials say they're trying to find a solution.

"We're working on a downtown core strategy right now to figure out how we're going to provide low cost public parking on a short term basis," said Rick Sheridan of the Department of Transportation.

But until that time, it's either luck out or pay up.

The spokesman for Seattle dot says they hope to work with private parking lots on Fourth Avenue to see if they will lower rates to a set amount to ease the crunch on drivers.