I am a Renton resident who makes the dreaded commute to Bellevue in rush hour. I’d love to work closer to home or travel on off-peak hours, but this is not an option for me.
I was greatly concerned to read that the commuter parking spaces at the Renton City Center parking garage will be reduced from 200 to 150 stalls. This will not provide enough parking spaces. Residents of Renton will have to drive past an empty parking garage because two publicly funded organizations are not working together for the good of the people.
There aren’t other parking options. Ideally I’d park at the South Renton Park and Ride, as it is closer to my home. The information provided by King County Metro states that this parking facility is “usually full by 9 a.m.”; however I can confirm that the South Renton Park and Ride is usually full by 7:10 a.m.
I have driven around it many times, just to have to continue on my way to the Renton City Center parking garage. Once downtown I drive up four nearly empty floors to get to the commuter parking area. I’m there by 7:22 a.m. and the only spots available are only the very top floor. There is not a surplus of 50 commuter stalls.
From my understanding Renton City Center parking garage is owned by the city and managed by Diamond Parking Services. There is no additional revenue to be collected by reducing the number of spots available to commuters. I’m sure that the garage gets additional use during the day that I don’t see, but I’m highly doubtful that there is full use of the over 300 (soon to be 350 plus) spots that are off-limits to commuters.
I know that the City of Renton needs to collect money from the garage, but pushing out commuters is not the solution. The result of this action will be that the bottom floors of the parking garage will be even emptier than before and there will be less public commuters. Nobody wins.
I’m hoping that the City of Renton and King County Metro will be able to work together on a creative solution. Please find a resolution that will allow the taxpayers of Renton to use a public facility instead of it sitting there empty.
Leshell Bergan,
Renton
