More paid parking may be coming to Green Lake neighborhood

It can take a lot of patience to find parking in Green Lake, especially during the summer.

That’s why residents and businesses are working with the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) on a plan that would expand paid parking in an area of the popular Seattle neighborhood and could add restricted parking.

Ken Wong, owner of the Green Lake branch of Teddy’s Big Burgers and member of the Green Lake Chamber of Commerce, has seen the parking struggle since the burger joint opened about 1.5 years ago. Parking can get out of control at times, he said.

“The parking down here, especially in the summer, is beyond capacity,” Wong said.

More parking meters could help businesses see more turnover in customers, Wong said. There are areas with time limits, but those limits are often ignored.

“It’s really difficult to find parking down here at times,” he said.

There are already some areas with paid parking in Green Lake. Paid parking is often available during the day, while areas with time limits or no restrictions are often full, according to the city. Because of the high evening traffic, the city extended paid hours to 8 p.m. in 2014.

Car occupancy in Green Lake is oftentimes beyond capacity after 7 p.m., according to data collected by SDOT. Though Seattle does not formally designate parking spaces on the street, it does maintain an inventory of spaces that would exist if spaces were legally marked. The spaces are based on standard parking space dimensions and consider restrictions near intersections, driveways, and fire hydrants. Occupancy can be over 100 percent because vehicles park close together or in illegal spaces.

That brings the conversation back to Green Lake. Occupancy was at 102 percent after 7 p.m. in 2014, according to the city. That is an 8 percent decrease from 110 percent in 2013.

Paid parking in Green Lake is currently located east of East Green Lake Drive, between NE 73rd and NE 70th streets.

The new paid parking would expand slightly out of that area, adding parking zones onto East Green Lake Way N, and increasing the zones on NE Maple Leaf Place and NE 70th Street.

The blocks proposed for the changes are more than 90 percent full for most of the day, according to SDOT.

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Meanwhile, SDOT is also considering adding Restricted Parking Zones, in response to requests from Green Lake residents. If the area meets the criteria for such a zone, there will be additional outreach to the community.

A survey on the proposed parking changes in Green Lake is available until July 12.