Printed Mar 21, 2024 • Final up to date Mar 22, 2024 • 5 minute learn
There’s a number of unused parking simply off the primary streets in each downtown Port Elgin and Southampton based on a parking methods research replace introduced to Saugeen Shores councillors March 11.
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Should you’ve ever circled downtown Port Elgin or Southampton trying to find a seemingly scarce, handy parking area, you could be stunned by a research that discovered there’s a number of out there parking in each downtowns, even throughout peak demand, and the dearth of parking is only a notion.
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“Nudging” individuals to make use of parking areas that could be a brief stroll from the mains streets in each in Port Elgin and Southampton could also be one low-cost manner to enhance downtown parking.
That could possibly be executed with signage and a parking information, based on Saugeen Shores Mayor Luke Charbonneau who made the recommendations throughout basic committee debate on a parking technique data report March 11.
The research, stemming from a 2020 Transportation Grasp Plan, was performed by Paradigm Transportation Options to evaluate present and future parking wants and to develop brief, medium and long-term methods to enhance the parking for guests, prospects, and workers within the downtown areas.
There may be free, year-round parking in municipal tons in Port Elgin on the Principal Seaside; Gustavus and Bricker streets; Inexperienced and Bricker streets; the laneway south of Inexperienced St.; adjoining to the Port Elgin library off Elgin St.; and in Southampton on the Coliseum.
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Ruhul Amin, the City’s supervisor of engineering companies mentioned they might use the excellent parking technique to plan future parking infrastructure.
In his report back to councillors Amin mentioned though the necessity for substantial will increase in parking has not been recognized, the City ought to proceed to keep up the present parking equilibrium by planning for the lack of potential parking tons.
Paradigm’s senior mission supervisor Erica Bayley mentioned the municipal parking provide is working with adequate capability below peak demand situations. Though some parking tons or on-street parking areas expertise parking calls for higher than 85 % at peak occasions, there’s ample parking elsewhere within the system.
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Each Port Elgin and Southampton have roughly 600 on-street and areas in municipal tons, Bayley mentioned, including that outcomes of visitors counts executed in each downtowns for 2 days final August produced related outcomes.
In Port Elgin, with 441 on-street and 176 lot areas, and in Southampton with 505 on-street and 92 lot areas, lower than half of the areas have been occupied throughout the rely. Eighty-one % of Port Elgin areas have been occupied for lower than two hours, 85 % in Southampton, Bayley mentioned.
Figuring out wasted area on the town parking tons is one solution to create further capability and is likely one of the short-term (1 to three 12 months) methods to optimize provide and cut back parking demand, Bayley mentioned, including the City might examine decreasing parking time on Goderich St. and Excessive. St. to 2 hours (from three), including signage and publishing a complete Parking Information.
Medium-term (4 to 10-year) methods embrace allocating worker parking to municipal tons, contemplating banning workers from parking in “prime” on-street areas, and figuring out public/personal alternatives to develop the parking provide.
A protracted-term resolution requires help for regional initiatives for an on-demand or fastened route public transit system to cut back parking wants.
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Bayley mentioned the City and Paradigm performed two rounds of public engagement throughout the research to gather suggestions from the neighborhood, stakeholders, companies, residents and guests to the downtown areas to raised perceive the experiences accessing and parking within the cores.
Following classes in January, Bayley mentioned there was help for: maintaining angled parking on Excessive St.; prioritizing parking enforcement; growing public transportation; offering bicycle parking in winter months; including new bicycle parking that doesn’t impede pedestrians; and offering extra accessible parking areas.
Bayley mentioned subsequent steps embrace reviewing suggestions from councillors and getting ready a future report for council.
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A medium-term suggestion of allocating parking for downtown workers to peripheral tons – just like the lot adjoining to Jubilee Park in Southampton – didn’t impress deputy mayor Diane Huber who mentioned Jubilee Park is an in-and-out type of place and never “desirable” for all-day parking.
Huber additionally instructed that worker parking is probably not a problem and that any parking modifications shouldn’t impede the City’s winter snow clearing work.
Southampton Ward Coun. John Divinski agreed with Huber’s issues about utilizing Jubilee Park for downtown worker parking as “for all intents and purposes its a million miles” from Southampton’s downtown core, he mentioned.
One of many short-term methods advisable to optimize provide is to keep up and develop enforcement efforts to encourage parking area turnover.
Divinski questioned who would implement the proposed two-hour parking restrictions, prompting CAO Kara Van Myall to remark that they don’t have any type of enforcement.
“It would be signage and the honour system, I guess is what I would offer,” she mentioned.
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Divinski additionally mentioned downtown parking areas “get eaten up” by beach-goers who take them the entire day, however supervisor Amin mentioned the research confirmed that in Southampton between six and 10 % of individuals parked for 3 hours, and most parked for lower than two hours, so it’s “not a huge issue” he mentioned.
Extra enforcement of parking guidelines “is not worth it,” based on Southampton Ward Coun. Cheryl Grace who mentioned the statistics bear out that most individuals are staying lower than two hours.
Grace famous that getting ready a listing of present parking wayfinding indicators is a short-term technique to establish gaps. It mentioned a complete map, exhibiting pedestrian linkages would encourage “park once” journeys and promote strolling.
“It may be a situation where newcomers to Southampton, come in, drive down High St, see the main beach – they don’t know Saugeen Shores. They may not know there are other wonderful beaches that are available to them…” Grace mentioned.
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Mayor Charbonneau mentioned wanting on the complete image in each communities, there isn’t a parking drawback – there’s ample parking, he mentioned, acknowledging that remark may make some individuals “scream” as there are parking points in particular places at sure occasions.
“The key thing is though there are a lot of spots very close to the core in both towns that go almost unused…” he mentioned, questioning if indicators and an annual parking information would assist to remind individuals that there’s parking proper close to each downtowns that’s “not that far a walk.”
The mayor mentioned the report demonstrates there’ no parking drawback that wants restricted City sources however is an “area where we can maybe, at very low cost, do some nudging of the community to get them to use the parking facilities that we have available,” Charbonneau mentioned.
The 505 on-street and 92 municipal parking zone areas in Southampton are sufficient for the subsequent 10 years.
A advisor studied present municipal on-street and parking tons in Port Elgin as a part of a parking technique research that discovered there’s ample parking simply off the primary avenue.
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