Peaks Island Resident Parking Study

Background:
 An informal parking study of the IR Zone was conducted to inform root causes and suggestions of solution options
 Manual tallies captured spaces in the IR Zone that were occupied by cars with IR Stickers, without IR Stickers or empty
 10 observations were made in August and September, at different times of day, and different days of the week
 While the study was informal and contains only 10 observations, notable trends have been observed
 The IR Zone includes ~ 80 spaces on Thames Street and lower Hancock. See Zone Map for reference.
 Fore Street was added to the IR Zone during the study and is not reflected in the data so as to maintain data consistency
 The Portland Division of Planning has recently commissioned a study of parking in the Old Port and Eastern Waterfront.

Observed Trends:
1. Overall parking trend:
 Data shows the current IR Zone is occupied by IR stickered vehicles only 29% of the time
 58% of the time, the IR Zone is occupied by Non-IR stickered vehicles
 12% of the time, the IR Zone has empty spaces
2. Meter parking trend:
 Data shows that when looking specifically at the 14-15 metered spaces on Thames street, these spaces are occupied
by IR stickered vehicles only 9% of the time
 69% of the time, the spaces are occupied by Non-IR stickered vehicles
 22% of the time, the spaces are empty
3. Special event parking trend:
 Data shows that weekends, Tuesday night parking restrictions, and spaces blocked for special events cause an
overall shortage of parking for IR stickered vehicles
 The highest % of empty spaces occurs in early mornings, following weekends and special events

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Problem
1 While the IR Zone contains ~80
spaces, because the IR Zone is
shared, only ~23 spaces are
available to IR residents
This is shown by the “overall”
trend of 29% of spaces
occupied by IR Stickers
2 When signed and metered
spaces both have 2 hour limits,
metered spaces are a “2nd
choice” for all vehicles
This is shown by the “overall”
and “meter” trends of 12%
empty vs 22% empty
respectively
3 Because IR Stickered vehicles
must adhere to the 2 hour limit
on metered spaces, these
spaces are less utilized by IR
residents who need more than
2 hour parking
This is shown by the “meter”
trend of 9% of meter spaces
occupied by IR Stickers
Root Problems and Possible Solution Options:
Solution Option
Extend the IR Zone from
Thames, Hancock, Fore to
include Commercial, Franklin,
Middle, India and more of Fore
Change signed 2 hour parking to
1 hour
Leave meters at 2 hours
Allow IR Stickered vehicles
extended parking in metered
spaces, similar to extended
parking in signed spaces
Benefit
Will extend IR parking options
while keeping spaces available
to Non-IR vehicles
Will result in visitor traffic using
signed spaces when they need
less than an hour and metered
spaces when they need more
than an hour, shifting behavior
from choosing “signed first”
Will turn over signed spaces
more frequently, which will
make them available more
often
Will provide consistent
availability for all of the IR
Zone, maximizing the use of
the ~80 spaces in the IR Zone
Cons/Considerations
Much of the proposed extended
zone is currently metered. Need
to consider with #2 and #3
Will impinge on other
neighborhood resident zones
which also have parking
constraints
Further distance from CBL for
Island Residents
This would be consistent with
signed and metered parking
currently in effect in other areas
of the city, such as the East End
and West End, that have a mix of
resident, business and visitor
parking needs
Reduced parking revenue for the
city
2
4 The wait list for the Casco Bay
Garage is 3 years, however
there are many island residents
who are willing and able to pay
for garage parking
5 Island Residents that are daily
commuters have different
parking needs than other island
residents, mainly overnight and
weekend.
6 Special events like Tuesday
night parking restrictions,
weekend traffic, concerts and
cruise ships create additional
parking constraints
7 Overall parking demand
exceeds parking supply
Increase the number of spaces in More island residents in the
the Casco Bay Parking Garage
that are allocated to Island
Residents as envisioned by the
Eastern Waterfront Master Plan.
The plan calls for non-island
parkers to be moved to new
structured parking as parking is
created in the Eastern Waterfront
making room for more island
resident parking in the Casco Bay
Parking Garage.
Provide Overnight Only and/or
Weekend Only parking in
garages and lots
For example:
Su-Th, 5:00 pm to 8:00 am
Fr 5:00 pm thru Su 8:00 am
Provide designated parking for
visitors attending special events:
- Ocean Gateway
- Whaling Wall building
- Homeland Security
- Amethyst lot
- Marginal way with shuttle
buses
Encourage/provide mass
transit/shuttle service from
remote garages and lots for daily
commuters and visitors to the city
garage would free up IR Zone
parking to other IR residents
Will provide a parking option for
Island Residents who are daily
commuters and need mainly
overnight parking
This would maximize the use of
garages and lots that are
otherwise empty and meet a
night time only parking need
Providing additional parking on
an as needed basis will
minimize impact to the IR Zone
Visitors to the city will have a
better experience if parking is
provided to support the event
Reduce traffic and parking
constraints for daily commuters
Would require the creation of new
street and/or structured parking in
the Eastern Waterfront.
Island Residents must exit the
garage by a certain time each
morning
Since this is limited parking, cost
should be less than Casco Bay
Garage rates.
Would need to define the use
charges and penalty for
remaining in garages and lots
during the day
Requires coordination with
events
Requires coordination with mass
transit providers