Columbia city administrators discuss parking issues

City administrators along with a consulting company met Wednesday to discuss a recent parking audit and how best to move forward. The city conducted the audit about a month ago on parking issues around downtown and campus.

The audit results show plenty of available parking downtown, especially, in parking garages and the areas surrounding downtown. The city also found East Campus and the Benton Stephens neighborhood are over capacity, most likely, because of MU students and staff parking in the areas during school hours.

City leaders said one solution could be turning the neighborhoods into permit parking areas.

“One of the recommendations we made for the next steps is to follow up on neighborhood permit programs in Benton Stephens and East Campus. Likely, we’re going to have to do that around all of the neighborhoods adjacent to downtown,” said Michael Trapp, Second Ward Council Member.

City leaders said another recommendation is to reduce demand for parking spaces by encouraging more public transportation, car sharing and walking.