Bellevue Poised to Stop Giving Away Curbside Parking for Free

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This week, Bellevue took a step away from its suburban-oriented past, with a quiet, little-acknowledged vote Tuesday to implement a paid parking program throughout the Downtown, Wilburton, and Belred neighborhoods. Primarily a way to ensure regular turnover of high-demand on-street parking spaces, a curbside parking program will also provide revenue for Bellevue to implement other transportation programs, strategies identified in the City's 2023 curb management plan.

An idea that has been moving forward for years, the final vote came tucked in a consent agenda, approved with a slate of other uncontroversial bills.

Curbside parking is actually fairly scarce in central Bellevue, with many of the curbside lanes used to move vehicles and thousands of off-street stalls squirreled away in the neighborhood's buildings. As of 2022, Bellevue counts only around 600 on-street stalls throughout Downtown, BelRed, and the Spring District, compared to approximately 55,000 off-street stalls in garages and parking lots.

Though time-restricted, these on-street spots are not metered. A lack of enforcement translates into drivers regularly overstaying their welcome.

https://www.theurbanist.org/bellevue-poised-to-stop-giving-away-curbside-parking-for-free/