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Consideration of request from Engineering Division to remove parking restrictions on the west side of 113th Street from Center Street to Clarke Street, to remove parking restrictions along the west side of 114th Street from 190-feet south of Center Street to Clarke Street, and to remove parking restrictions along the east side of 115th Street from Center Street to Clarke Street following completion of two trial periods
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Submitted by:
Michael May, PE, PTOE, RPS1
Department:
DPW - Engineering Division
A. Issue
The Transportation Affairs Committee, in response to an Alderperson Agenda Item Memo, directed a parking trial in September 2024 to ease parking restraints in the area of Wauwatosa West High School.
B. Background/Options
The Transportation Affairs Committee (TAC), at its September 2024 meeting and in response to an Alderperson Agenda Item Memo, directed staff to perform a 90-day trail to remove parking restrictions on the west side of 113th Street, west side of 114th Street, and east side of 115th Street. The first 90-day trial officially began the week of September 25th. Staff tracked parking occupancy on adjacent streets with four “before trial” and four “during trial” observations.
At the January 2025 TAC meeting, staff provided a summary of the trial results and recommended removing parking in all the aforementioned trial locations with the exception of two. Staff recommended 2-hour parking remain in the ordinance along the west side of 114th Street within the first 190-feet of Center Street, and along the east side 115th Street within the first 195-feet. These two areas were recommended to remain as 2-hour parking to aid in parent pick-up/drop-off and for school visitors. TAC directed staff to perform a trial of this layout, to further work with Wauwatosa West High School on student, parent, and faculty/staff outreach, and to report back on May 13, 2025.
The second trial began on February 17th after outreach with the high school and property owners was completed. Table 1 shows the results of the both the initial 90-day trial (“trial 1”) and the most recent trial (“trial 2”). Additionally, Table 1 shows the change in parking from the before trial to “trial 1” condition, the before trial to “trial 2” condition, and from the “trial 1” to “trial 2” condition.
Note: Additional parking data was collected for Trial 1 before Trial 2 started. The additional data is included in the Trial 1 data above.
The following is key takeaways from the parking data.
• 113th Street from Center to Clarke, as well as Center Street from 116th Street to 117th Street, saw negligible change from “before trial” to “trial 1” but saw increases during “trial 2”. This may be, in part, due to additional communication efforts with the high school regarding the walking distance from the school to various locations on the streets.
• 114th Street and 115th Street, from Center Street to Clarke Street, saw the largest increase in average observed parked vehicles. A slight decline occurred - about 2 vehicles each street - due to the 2-hour parking zones that remained under “trial 2”. Note that, on average, one or fewer vehicles using the 2-hour zone on 114th and 2 or fewer vehicles used the 2-hour zone on 115th during the school day. More details on pick-up/drop-off observations are included later in this report.
• 116th Street from Center Street to Clarke Street, and Clark Street from 113th to 116th Street, saw the largest decrease in average observed parked vehicles. A slight increase occurred on Clarke Street when comparing “trial 1” to “trial 2”.
• Student parking within the school property increased between “trial 1” and “trial 2”. This is expected, as additional students gain their licenses to drive as the school year progresses.
• Though not shown in Table 1, the average total parking demand - on-street plus off-street - increased by 32 vehicles between “trial 1” and “trial 2”.
In addition to observing parking occupancy, staff observed behaviors of pick-up/drop-off in the 2-hour zones on 114th Street and 115th Street during “trial 2”.
• The 2-hour zone on 114th was heavily used for student pick-up/drop-off at Whitman Middle School. It is surmised that drivers intentionally used 114th instead of 113th Street for pick-up because of the all-way stop condition at 114th Street. The zone quickly emptied just as high school students began exiting doors. The zone was also used by drivers picking-up high school students, but far less so.
• The 2-hour zone on 115th was primarily used by one or two individuals who used it to park for an extended period of time (not pick-up/drop-off). A few pull-up-and-pick-ups occurred in the zone, but it was not heavily utilized.
At the January 2025 TAC meeting, staff was asked to provide citation information for the two trials. The following information in Table 2 was provided by the Wauwatosa Police Department. Note that overnight parking citations are not included in this data. The majority of “blocking driveway” tickets were for parking within 4-feet of a driveway apron. The majority of “against signs” were for students parking in a 2-hour zone longer than 2 hours, though wrong-way parking is included in this figure.
Based on the results of the before trial, “trial 1”, and “trial 2” observations, staff finds that the 190-feet of 2-hour parking along 114th is beneficial for the pick-up/drop-off of Whitman Middle School and Wauwatosa West High School. The 2-hour zone along 115th was not well utilized and daytime visitors can make use of a 2-hour zone along 114th Street.
C. Strategic Plan (Area of Focus)
N/A
D. Fiscal Impact
Minor expenses for the installation or removal of signs.
E. Recommendation
Direct staff to prepare an ordinance to remove parking restrictions on the west side of 113th Street from Center Street to Clarke Street, to remove parking restrictions along the west side of 114th Street from 190-feet south of Center Street to Clarke Street, and to remove parking restrictions along the east side of 115th Street from Center Street to Clarke Street following completion of two trial periods.
