Street Parking Confidential: Easy (or Easier) Places to Find Parking in Downtown Walnut Creek

Walnut Creek may be a hot spot for dining, shopping, and culture in the East Bay, but some people have made it clear that they don't like the idea of trying to find a place to park in downtown, especially on the weekends. On a mid-day Friday, more than half of the downtown's 7,040 parking spaces in public and private garages and on the street are occupied.

City officials say parking revenue is down 17 percent in 2009 from the previous year. The recession also played a role in this decline, but respondents to a parking survey the city conducted earlier this year also shows that residents and visitors don't want to deal with the hassle of trying to find a place to park.

The Downtown Parking Task Force has been meeting since September to develop solutions to Walnut Creek's various parking issues. At the most recent meeting this week, task force members discussed the thorny matter of street parking.

Officials recognize that some perceive Walnut Creek to have insufficient parking because its spaces along downtown streets are often occupied.

However, street parking only makes up about 8 percent of the downtown's total parking inventory, according to a July 2006 Downtown Parking and Strategy Transportation Study.

Most of Walnut Creek's parking spaces are in private and public garages. 

Nonetheless there are "blind spots" along the streets where motorists have a good chance to find parking. They include:

• The north side of Olympic Boulevard between Locust and South Main streets has 80 to 100 percent of occupancy rate on the weekdays, while the south side has 50 to 79 percent of occupancy rates.
• Both sides of North Broadway north of Mt. Diablo Boulevard are less than 50 percent filled, while most of Broadway Plaza is 80 to 100 percent filled.
• Both sides of Lincoln Avenue have fewer than 50 percent occupancy. But, this could change when the new library opens on July 17 

The task force is looking at ways to improve parking logistics in downtown and to encourage people to use the garages. For example, task force members suggested the garages, except for the Locust Street Garage, used mostly by people who go to the Lesher Center, should be free on Sunday. 

They also want to encourage more people who work at shops and restaurants in downtown to use the parking garages, instead of the street. Currently, people cannot park their cars on the lower levels of the garages before 9 a.m. That is to encourage workers to use the upper levels of the garages and to make them available those lower-level spaces available to visitors and shoppers.