City Eyes Downtown Parking Garage
Posted/updated on: April 14, 2011 at 12:55 pm
TYLER — During its meeting on Wednesday, the Tyler Development Authority received a presentation on the state of parking in the downtown area and unanimously approved a proposal from Walker Parking Consultants to provide functional design alternatives for a downtown parking garage. The parking study was conducted in an area of approximately 12 city blocks in downtown Tyler generally bordered by Locust Street to the north, Fannin Avenue to the east, Elm Street to the south, and Bois D’Arc Avenue to the west. The study is a preliminary step in improving downtown parking and comprised three components: a parking supply and demand study, a parking alternative analysis, and a preliminary financial analysis.
Findings from the study show that available parking in downtown meets current demand; however, officials say that as redevelopment efforts continue downtown, parking demands will quickly exceed the existing supply of parking. To guarantee that the amount of parking available in downtown continues to meet demand as the city grows, Walker Parking Consultants has recommended building a multi-level parking structure with between 300 and 400 spaces. Walker Parking Consultants will now begin work designing a parking structure that will be built at the corner of Elm Street and Broadway Avenue. It is anticipated that this phase of the project will take approximately one month to complete.
“With the all of the exciting redevelopment projects planned for downtown, like Liberty Hall and renovations to the Lindsey Building, it is important to ensure that we are adequately planning for all aspects of this growth,” said Mayor Barbara Bass. “The proposed parking structure will provide parking to a variety of downtown patrons and will make sure that there is ample parking to support future development in the downtown area.”
The Tyler Development Authority was created by the Tyler City Council to provide services to the TIRZ Number Two Board on an as needed basis. Board members include the Tyler mayor and city council and representatives from other governmental entities participating in the Downtown TIRZ (Commissioner JoAnn Hampton from Smith County and Trustee Mike Coker from Tyler Junior College). Such services include hiring consultants to plan projects, hiring contractors to implement improvements, and paying for such services from available TIRZ Number Two funds.
