Study to focus on Ingersoll's parking headaches
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Bike lanes along Ingersoll Avenue are among recent streetscape changes intended to slow traffic and make the area more pedestrian friendly. Photo: Jason Clayworth/Axios
Parking on Ingersoll Avenue has caused headaches for years, and Polk County Supervisors decide today whether to pay for a study that could help.
Why it matters: Cell phone tracking shows Ingersoll Avenue's traffic has increased about 20% since 2021, from 1.7 million to about 2 million visitors last year, Lauren Kollauf, director of The Avenues of Ingersoll and Grand, a development advocacy group, tells Axios.
- That has made peak-time parking, especially when bars and restaurants are busiest, more challenging, Kollauf says.
Catch up fast: Limited parking along Ingersoll has been a concern among residents and business owners for decades but that worry has grown louder in recent years as the city completes a streetscape project.
- A year ago, then-Mayor Frank Cownie described the project's effects on parking supply as "a real nightmare."
Driving the news: The Avenues is hiring a consultant to review parking and make improvement recommendations.
- The group, the county and the city of Des Moines would split the $30,000 cost, under proposals going before supervisors and the City Council.
The intrigue: Possible solutions might not include more parking.
- Multiple private lots along Ingersoll are reserved for specific businesses but stay empty on evenings and weekends.
- The study will review how to facilitate sharing agreements to maximize those existing spaces, Kollauf said.
What's next: The study will take about three months to complete and include participation from the business district, a focus group and a residents' survey.
- DSM will consider potential solutions based on study outcomes, Michael Ludwig, deputy director of development services for the city, tells Axios.
