Challenge

Parking is a growing challenge in the downtown and waterfront areas of Sandpoint, Idaho, particularly during the summer months. The City of Sandpoint was looking for solutions to better utilize existing parking facilities and inform the need for future parking, especially in light of new development that will displace several key parking areas. Kittelson was tasked with conducting a parking study to evaluate peak summer on-street and public off-street parking conditions and identify high-level policies and strategies that could be considered to improve parking conditions in the future.

Solution

The project team collected parking data using drone imagery and physical counts on a typical midweek day and a typical weekend day to reflect peak season demands related to summer tourism. Aerial drone footage was used to create detailed base maps and supplement the parking supply for both public and private lots. The parking data was analyzed and summarized by location and type of stalls, occupancy, duration of stay, and turnover. The parking occupancy, turnover, and duration data was analyzed on an hourly basis by stall, by block face, and the overall study area.