Community Access and Parking Program
Working with business districts to improve parking, loading, and access
The Community Access and Parking Program (CAPP) works in busy neighborhood business districts and other areas with growing parking demand. We partner with people who live, work, and visit these areas to understand on-street parking needs and improve parking access.
Possible improvements may include new time-limited parking, paid parking, load zones, and disabled parking. The goal is to make parking and street space work better for customers, residents, deliveries, and people with disabilities.
Active Projects
Completed Projects
Completed projects by year
2024
Ballard Brewery District: In 2022 and 2024, SDOT studied on-street parking in the Ballard Brewery District. These studies found that parking is very full throughout the day. After hearing feedback from area businesses in 2024, SDOT decided not to move forward with changes.
2023
In 2023, SDOT added paid parking, load zones, and disabled parking on and around 15th Ave E in Capitol Hill after outreach and parking studies showed high all-day parking demand.
Curbspace Changes:
· New 2-hour paid parking: We added 2-hour paid parking (8 AM – 8 PM) on 15th Ave E between E Mercer Street and E Denny Way, on the west side of 16th Ave E between E Thomas St and E Denny Way, and in several small areas on the cross streets between 15th Ave E and 16th Ave E.
· New load zones
· New disabled parking
· New bicycle parking
Project Purpose and Background:
The purpose of this project was to encourage parking turnover and ensure that parking and access kept pace with existing and growing needs. On-street parking in the area was full for most of the day, with average parking occupancy above 90% most of the day and exceeding 100% in the afternoon. With more planned development, demand for parking will continue to grow. The addition of paid parking will improve parking turnover and help customers access businesses more easily.
We set paid parking rates to keep one or two parking spaces open per block. This creates well-utilized on-street parking that allows visitors and delivery truck drivers to find available spaces more reliably near their destination.
In 2023, SDOT added paid parking, load zones, and disabled parking on several streets near Ballard Commons Park to help customers and visitors find parking near their Ballard destinations.
Curbspace Changes:
We added paid parking north of the existing paid parking area on the following blocks (also indicated in blue on the map below):
· 24th Ave NW from NW 60th St to NW 57th St (east and west side)
· 24th Ave NW from NW 57th St to NW 56th St (west side only)
· NW 57th St from 24th Ave NW to 22nd Ave NW (north side only)
· NW 58th St from 24th Ave NW to 22nd Ave NW (south side only)
· 22nd Ave NW from NW 57th St to NW 58th St (west side only)
In 2023, SDOT added paid parking, load zones, and disabled parking on several streets near Green Lake Park to help visitors and customers to nearby businesses find parking more easily.
We added 2-hour paid parking on the below blocks in Green Lake in December 2023:
- 1st Ave NE from Woodlawn Ave NE to E Green Lake Way N (east and west side)
- 2nd Ave NE from Woodlawn Ave NE to E Green Lake Way N (east and west side)
- 4th Ave NE from Woodlawn Ave NE to E Green Lake Way N (east and west side)
- East Green Lake Way N from Sunnyside Ave N to 1st Ave NE (south side only)
- East Green Lake Way N from 2nd Ave NE to 4th Ave NE (south side only)
- Woodlawn Ave NE from Latona Ave NE to 4th Ave NE (north side only)
- Woodlawn Ave NE from 5th Ave NE to NE Ravenna Blvd (north side only)
We also installed or relocated two 4-hour disabled parking spaces per federal guidelines as part of this work. On-street parking is free on Sundays, holidays, and when paid time limits do not apply.
2021
On May 24, 2021, SDOT released a final curbspace and access plan for the Uptown neighborhood surrounding the Climate Pledge Arena. SDOT collaborated with the Uptown community to design a curbside management plan to support access for residents, businesses, and visitors and prevent gridlock. Over 600 people engaged in the creation of this plan and influenced the outcome.
The final plan reflected broadly supported community goals:
GOAL: Prioritize access for businesses, residents and visitors in a quickly growing Urban Center
Expand Restricted Parking Zone (RPZ) 13 and paid parking as shown in orange and blue shaded areas on map.RPZ permits currently cost $65 per vehicle for a two-year cycle and renew in March of odd years.
A $10 income-eligible permit is available.
Employees are not eligible for RPZ permits.
Paid parking allows up to 4 hours of parking from 8 AM to 8 PM, Monday - Saturday to encourage vehicle turnover in the business district for reliable customer access. Rates installed on new blocks will be the same as other neighborhood rates.
GOAL: Discourage Arena event goers from using on-street parking
Implement on-street event parking rates in all paid parking locations shown on the map during Arena events anticipating 10,000 or more attendees.During events, rates will likely be in place from 5 PM to 10 PM in the evenings and on Saturday afternoons.
To support shorter visits to neighborhood businesses, event parking rates will be lower during the first 2 hours and higher for the remaining 3 hours. This encourages people to ride transit, walk, bike or park off-street using the Arena's parking reservation system.
Event rates could also be used on Sundays and holidays.
GOAL: Prioritize transit, biking and loading, and manage ride-hailing services to support a sustainable and equitable transportation system
Redesign blocks to optimize commercial and passenger loading needs.
Include designated disabled parking spaces where possible, likely at the end of blocks.
Continue coordinating with the Arena team on a management plan for ride-hailing services.
Project Background
SDOT created a curbside plan in the Uptown neighborhood to be in place prior to the Climate Pledge Arena opening in fall 2021. Our goal was to balance neighborhood business and residential access with a combination of parking and access tools, which can include on-street loading, restricted parking zones, paid parking, non-paid time limits, bicycle parking, disabled parking and other changes.
SDOT Curbside Management, Project Development Division and Street Use Division staff also worked directly with the Oak View Group (OVG) who developed the Climate Pledge Arena into a new world class sports and entertainment venue. Our shared goals were to continue to develop the Arena Access Master Plan (AAMP), to prioritize transit and other modes of getting to the Arena, and to manage ride-hailing.
The U District Link Light Rail Station opened in October 2021. The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT), alongside King County Metro and Sound Transit, worked on improvements to transit, walking, and biking in the station areas to support access to the new station. We updated curb parking regulations for the surrounding area to balance the needs of those who live in, work in, or visit the neighborhood with those who use the new station. This blog post discussed all the mobility improvements for the new light rail station areas.
In order to prevent all-day parking by station commuters, we added paid parking to several blocks near the station that were unrestricted parking. Planned changes are shown on the map above. 12th Avenue NE became part of the U District Core parking area, with a 2-hour time limit, 8 AM to 8 PM. All other blocks became part of the U District Edge parking area, with a 4-hour time limit, 8 AM to 6 PM. Paid parking is n effect Monday through Saturday and is unrestricted in the evenings and on Sundays.
The Roosevelt Link Light Rail Station opened in October 2021. The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT), alongside King County Metro and Sound Transit, worked on improvements to transit, walking, and biking in the station areas to support access to the new station. We updated curb parking regulations for the surrounding area to balance the needs of those who live in, work in, or visit the neighborhood with those who use the new station. This SDOT blog post discussed all the mobility improvements for the new light rail station areas.
The map below shows curbspace changes to the area:
In 2021, SDOT updated curb parking regulations for the area surrounding Northgate Link Light Rail Station to balance the needs of those who live in, work in, or visit the neighborhood with those who use the new station. We conducted a study on streets around the station and planned updates to on-street parking. In order to prevent all-day parking by hide-and-ride commuters using the station, we added 2-hour time limits along 3rd Ave NE, 4th Ave NE, and NE 97th St, as shown on the map. We also added load zones on 3rd Ave NE and 4th Ave NE near NE 100th St in response to feedback we received.
2019
In 2019, SDOT reviewed parking and access in the West Seattle Junction area with local stakeholders to determine potential improvements to area parking management. We also received a formal request for a new Restricted Parking Zone (RPZ) in the area.
We completed parking and access studies in the West Seattle Junction and Triangle areas and sought feedback about area on-street parking. We used study results and public feedback to develop a plan including a new RPZ (RPZ 35,) new areas of unpaid time limits in front of businesses, new designated disabled spaces, and a load zone to improve neighborhood access. See map below for the changes we made:
In 2019, SDOT made some changes to parking management along the west side of 42nd Ave S between S Myrtle St and S Othello St.
Informed by a parking study and an engagement effort with neighborhood stakeholders, we found that the RPZ-signed portion of the block was over 100% full throughout the day, and learned that this was making it difficult for both business deliveries and for customers to access parking to visit the nearby businesses. To address these challenges, we made the following changes:
- Converted approximately two spaces at the south end of the block (north of the cul-de-sac) to a 30-minute load/unload zone, 7 AM to 6 PM, Monday-Friday
- Converted the remaining Zone 30 parking to 2-hour parking, 7 AM to 6 PM, Monday-Friday
See map below:
