SEATTLE - Finding on-street parking is a perpetual problem for drivers in Seattle, and some say its been getting worse.
Last year, KING 5 News reported when the city removed nearly 40 downtown parking spots near the courthouse and city hall. Now, some of the residential neighborhoods are feeling the crunch from that action.
"Well, this is my neighborhood," says Amy White, who lives on Seattle's Capitol Hill. "And they've been shrinking the zone parking continually since I lived here. It's really challenging!"
Just a few weeks ago, the city removed several free on-street spots across from White's building. She concedes they did cause bottlenecks at times, but says the parking situation is getting to be a problem.
"I'm sometimes circling like ten or fifteen minutes, or parking kind of far away," she says. "I think that's one of my hugest frustrations, is no one wants to come visit me because they can't find parking!"
Mike Estey is the manager of parking operations for the Seattle Department of Transportation.
"We may lose a few here and there, but we still have quite a few left," Estey says.
Estey explains the number of paid on-street parking spots has actually increased in Seattle over the years. However, the city does not keep track of how many free parking spots there are, and those are the ones people notice most when they disappear.
"I think they see it and feel it very specifically and personally where they're at. If its a parking spot they've lost right near their building, its a big deal for them," he agrees. "But there's not a city-wide, systematic effort to eliminate parking."
Estey says when on-street spots are removed, it is generally due to construction, safety concerns, or to create bike lanes. And, he adds, this fall the city will unveil several new tools, including one named "e-Park" to help drivers track down spots that are available in pay lots.
"We are working on a couple projects to make rates and availability a little bit more transparent," Estey explains. "So people are going to know what they're going to have to pay to park at different garages and what spaces might be available at different garages."
The city still makes money when drivers opt for pay lots instead of on-street meters. Ten percent of the parking fee in commercial lots goes to taxes.
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