The CEO of the Downtown Victoria Business Association is happy to hear that two city councilors are starting a discussion about adding another parkade.
Councilors Matt Dell and Dave Thompson plan to make a motion during Thursday’s Committee of the Whole meeting that asks city staff to explore options for a parkade in the northern end of downtown.
The DVBA's Jeff Bray is glad to hear it. "We are of course very supportive of the concept of adding a new parkade in the north end of downtown. We think that's a great idea. We know from our members and conversations with the general public that both parking availability and drivability are key issues that impact people's enjoyment of downtown."
However, the motion doesn't stop and creating a parkade. It reads as follows:
That Council direct staff to report back on: Reducing private vehicle movements and parking in the downtown neighbourhood by exploring the potential of creating a new parkade, or increased public parking capacity, on the north side of the downtown core.
And that staff to report back on: Including in the OCP related objectives and metrics, such as reducing vehicle movements and vehicle km travelled in the downtown; shifting numbers of parking stalls from the downtown to peripheral areas; and, providing last-mile solutions (including transit, micro-mobility and bike share) available at any major parking locations in the periphery in order to help people move quickly from parking to final destinations.
On the concept of moving downtown parking spaces to the north end of town and restricting vehicle movement downtown, Bray isn't so sure. "Our view is that in the next 10-years we're going to have more cars on the road in this region, not fewer, because people are moving here. And we know that as a regional downtown people have to get downtown through a variety of methods including the private vehicle."
Bray points out that development over surface parking lots, and to a lesser extent development of bike and transit lanes, lost the city about 2,200 parking spaces over the last several years.