City to study parking along N. Broadway

The city of Salem will conduct a parking management study for the neighborhood in the Broadway NE Street corridor.

Ongoing renewal and gentrification projects in the northeast Broadway and High streets area have brought added attention to potential parking issues for neighborhood residents.

The commercial corridor abutting Broadway and High streets NE, identified in Salem's "North Downtown Plan," is a location suitable for wide-range new housing, mixed-use projects and retail developments, City of Salem public works spokesman Mike Gotterba said recently.

Parking analysis and management of the area has multiple aims, including minimizing effects on surrounding, traditional neighborhoods and encouraging more pedestrian and bicycle use, he said.

The area of discussion involves northeast Broadway and High streets between Hood Street to the north and Willow Street to the south, west to Fourth Street NE and east to Fifth Street NE.

In recent years, the area has had mixed-use growth including the construction of the new Salem YWCA and Salem Cinema. Other additions include the Broadway Commons, restaurants, a convenience store and apartments.

"We had a few parking issues with the new mixed-use buildings when they first went in," said Lisa Anderson-Ogilvie, a planner with Salem Community Development Department. "There have been a handful of (parking) variances in the last few years."

Plans are to avoid future parking issues while encouraging the area's growth and development, Anderson-Ogilvie said.

"The goal of the project is to develop parking management solutions within the city's redeveloping north downtown," city planners said in a recent press release.

New housing, mixed-use projects and retail developments built along the Broadway Street NE corridor have intensified the need to complete and implement this parking management study, city planners said.

The city is also looking at parking issues within a quarter-mile radius of the commercial corridor. This area, too, could affect parking use.