Valley Voice
April 2014
15
Vol. 2, No. 4
Parking study getting underway in Hayden
For news tips, contact the editor at brodiefarquhar@hotmail.com.
By Brodie Farquhar
HAYDEN – Early March saw a kick-off meeting for a Hayden parking analysis project. Chris Endreson, a technical assistance coordinator for the Colorado Center for Community Development, met with a dozen citizens at town hall. Endreson said there’s a general perception of a parking problem in downtown Hayden, and that the task of the study will be to: • Identify perceptions and issues • Inventory current parking spaces • Begin the process to improve downtown parking, meeting the needs of businesses, customers and visitors. Two or three architecture and planning graduate students from the University of Colorado-Denver, will come to Hayden this spring and early summer for field work, such as inventorying each parking space in downtown. They’ll also be in town to document occupancy of parking spots at different times of the day. For purposes of the study, the focus will be on downtown, from the railroad to Washington Avenue and Pine Street west to North Second Street. All the businesses in that area can expect to receive a survey addressing their business, parking for customers and employees. Half a dozen sites around town will have a survey for business customers, which can be picked up, filled out and returned for compilation and analysis. Discussion Town Councilmen Dallas Robinson said he’s noticed a pattern over the years. As a business becomes more and more successful, he said it attracts more customers who take up more and more of the available parking. That in turn deprives neighboring businesses of parking for customers and they go out of business. And as a snowplowing contractor, Robinson said the study should also factor in snow and where it can be stored.
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Resident Beth Miller said that Hayden residents that take the bus to jobs in Steamboat don’t have enough places to park their cars while they’re at work. The town hall and Kum ‘n Go lots are impacted, as are the side streets, she said. There were suggestions that the study also consider where a Park ‘n Ride lot might be established, to get those parked vehicles out of downtown. The vacant lot at Walnut Street and Jefferson Avenue has informally provided parking downtown, but is now owned by Rob Orr, a developer who is considering building a hotel there. The property is shifting from a safety valve of sorts for downtown parking to a situation where it will create a demand for more parking spaces than ever before. While Jefferson Avenue parking is parallel, Walnut Street (south of the highway) is angled. Currently, paint-striping to designate parking is irregular and fading, so vehicles often take up more than one space. Semi-tractor truck drivers tend to park on Robinson’s large lot by the railroad. Horse and ATV trailers are often parked out on the county fairgrounds, but not all travelers know about it. Seasonally, there are areas in the downtown area that get very crowded or empty of vehicles. Curbside Laundry on Walnut Street has business vehicles and employees parked there during the winter ski season when business is booming. The Midway Building, now fully occupied with businesses and an eight-unit boarding house, attracts extra vehicles during hunting season when hunters rent the rooms and dine at Wolf Mountain. Special events like the Triple Crown baseball tournaments, the COG run or the county fair attract numerous visitors, whose vehicles are parked in downtown and surrounding side streets. One thing to remember, said Endreson, is the power of perceptions. Drivers, who readily walk for blocks when parking at a big city mall, can get upset if they can’t park right in front of the business they want to visit. Sometimes lack of mobility can be a factor. Dallas Robinson said that when his back is hurting, he appreciates being able to park right in front of his chiropractor. Endreson said the study’s goal is to define the parking situation, identify opportunities and hopefully come up with low-cost solutions like striping and signage. Town Manager David Torgler said there’s no money in the town budget for expensive projects – not with a water tank and infrastructure work on water and sewer already planned. Endreson noted that Craig has limited parking downtown and has found that there’s little to no need for enforcement – people don’t leave cars parked downtown very long.
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