Columbia leaders still looking for solutions to delivery truck parking downtown

The city of Columbia has yet to find a solution to the limitations delivery trucks pose when they stop in downtown streets.

In October, members of the Downtown Columbia Leadership Council asked the Parking and Traffic Management Task Force to look at options and consult with downtown businesses. The task force ran out of time and didn’t address it.

DLC Chair Scott Wilson said they needed to bring the issue back up because it poses a safety concern.

“We’re worried about pedestrians, especially in the heart of downtown, over the lunch hour especially when it’s most crowded,” he said. “There’s a lot of pedestrians, a lot of bikers and the traffic is congested.”

Finding a permanent solution to this logistical issue will most likely be complex.

“On concern from our merchants was if you say I can only deliver during certain times of day, that’s going to cram in all these delivery trucks at one time of day,” said Downtown Community Improvement District executive director Katie Essing. “That’s complicated because sometimes those trucks are routing from St. Louis to Kansas City and businesses may not be able to tell the delivery truck when to arrive.”

The DLC ultimately agreed to draft a letter to the City Council to request a study be done to collect data on locations, times and frequency of delivery truck parking issues.

Wilson said they’re hoping it will reveal when and where the trucks are a traffic concern. While they don’t want to complicate things for business owners, Wilson said the issue needs to be addressed.

“We’re just trying to help downtown businesses, keep it pedestrian friendly and keep the traffic congestion from getting any worse than it already,” said Wilson. “Downtown’s a great place and we want to keep it available especially during the noon hour.”

Member Randy Gray said that if they got the study done, then they could make a request to City Council for an ordinance if it was necessary, based on the data.

They haven’t identified any specific data sets.

The Downtown Community Improvement District has put out a list of guidelines for delivery truck parking so that “delivery vehicles could load and unload without monopolizing parking spaces best used by our customers.”