By Joe Veyera
The Seattle Department of Transporation (SDOT) has finalized its proposed rate changes for the fall, with all three paid parking areas in Ballard set to adjust in the coming weeks.
The changes are mostly in line with the ones reported by My Ballard in late June, with slight modifications.
In the Ballard Core, which is defined as Northwest Market Street between 20th and 24th Avenues Northwest, and 22nd Avenue Northwest between Ballard Avenue Northwest and Northwest 56th Street, the rate will remain at $2 per hour. However, paid parking hours will be extended until 8 p.m. (previously 6 p.m.) after the occupancy rate at 7 p.m. was found to be at 109 percent, well above the target rate of 70 to 85 percent.
In the Ballard periphery, which is all non-Core paid parking blockfaces in the neighborhood, where parking has been $1.50 an hour between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m., with a four-hour maximum, the hours and time limit will remain the same, but the rate will be reduced to $1 an hour, after the daytime occupancy rate was measured at 58 percent, below the target range. In the original announcement of planned rate adjustments in June, rates had been slated to extend to 8 p.m.
In the Ballard Locks parking area, consisting of the parking lots south of Northwest 54th Street adjacent to the Locks, where parking is currently $1.50 per hour, rates will change according to season because of the fluctuating number of visitors. Between May and September, parking will be raised to $2 per hour, with the rate dropping to $1 per hour between October and April.
For more information on the parking rate changes in Ballard, and around the city, visit SDOT’s paid parking information site here.
(Information pages courtesy of the Seattle Department of Transportation’s Annual Paid Parking Occupancy Report)