DOT is asking for comments on the Scope (Or draft) of the parking study. The letter requesting comments is here.
The Scope of the parking study is here.
The comments received from the neighborhood are at the end below.
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The RNA submitted the following comments to DOT on the draft of the parking study:
1. Study days/times: We agree with the proposed 4-hour Weekday evening data collection. In addition to that period, it is imperative that there is a corresponding Friday or Saturday evening data collection, to capture the demand during that busy period. We cannot agree with using Sunday midday as the second data collection period for a study that must benefit the entire neighborhood. If resources are limited to two periods totaling 6 hours of data collection, our compromise would be three hours for the Weekday evening period and three hours for the Fri/Sat evening period. Our preference is for 3 data collection periods: Weekday evening and Fri/Sat evening (of equal priority), and Weekday daytime (of lower priority).
2. Study Timeline: Area universities are in full Spring session after the first week of February. Also by that time, the R House portion of Remington Row will be open and certain major construction projects should be complete. Collection of parking demand data should not begin until that time at the earliest.
3. Study Area: Please confirm that the study area includes both sides of Howard Street, as stated at the 21 September kick-off meeting.
4. On the map there appear to be some omissions in the identification of blocks with on-street parking.
5. The chart does not show that on-street parking will be differentiated as to non-restricted, RPP restricted, loading area restricted, etc. These distinctions should be noted in the supply inventory.
6. Will the supply inventory utilize the current Law requiring 4 feet of distance between cars for on-street parallel parking? If not, please clarify.
7. Please clarify how and when the "community input" will be received under Task 3.
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These are the comments received on the draft parking study.
4 comments:
The DOT Scope allows for two studies of the "utilization" of public parking in Remington:
"Two (2) additional site visits will be performed, the first during the weekday PM peak hours, and the second during the Sunday midday peak hours, to determine parking utilization during those time periods. Specifically, the RK&K team will conduct surveys from 5PM to 9PM on a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday (when JHU classes are in session), and from 11AM to 1PM on a Sunday. During each of these field visits, the entire study area will be surveyed once each hour, for a total of four times during the weekday PM peak and twice during the Sunday midday peak. It is assumed that seven (7) RK&K staff will be able to document all parked cars utilizing on-street parking and all cars parked in public off-street lots within the study area within 1 hour."
I think that the study on Sunday should be changed to Saturday evening. The study is primarily trying to assess the impact of Remington Row and the "R" house on parking on Remington. We should be looking at the worse case scenario which I would assume would be Saturday evening.
So the visit should be something like Saturday evening from 8 to 10 instead of Sunday morning from 11AM to 1PM.
Ed Hopkins
I agree with Ed. It also occurs to me that a valid and reliable study would require more visits over a longer period of time, the averages of which can create a comprehensive picture of what's required. The sample size here (just a couple days of observations) is too small to create a reliable picture.
DOT samples every hour for the periods they are collecting data. They are collecting data for 6 hours total. I definitely agree that sampling for more hours would be better and that we should try to get more.
I suspect that we will not be able to get them to do more hours of collecting because of the increased cost.
DOT has agreed to do the collection while school is in session and,also, the RNA is pushing to have the study done later in the Spring when the "R" house is at normal capacity. This might be all we can do to ensure that we are getting a reliable sample.
Any parking study is going to be a matter of projecting from a small sample. All you can do is work on the quality of the sample and maybe nudge of the amount of data a small amount.
Ed Hopkins
Where it states on pg 3 "Specifically, the RK&K team will conduct surveys from 5PM to 9PM on a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday (when JHU classes are in session)..." Parking problems on West 31st Street occur less late in the evening, rather much more during the day starting at 8 am to about 5 pm.
Parking is greatly effected on West 31st Street when events are held either at JHU or the BMA on weekends at any time when the 2 hour limit is not available on one side of our road.
Also, this survey should definitely not occur until JHU is back in session after their winter break and after RHouse has opened on Remington Ave. Both factors combined will greatly effect any count.
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