Downtown Parking

With sweeping views of the Wildlife Refuge, downtown Ridgefield’s tree-lined streets are the perfect place to enjoy a number of unique shops and charming restaurants.

One ongoing challenge to this has been the lack of parking available in the Downtown Core Area. The City is working with Downtown merchants, residents and Ridgefield Main Street to identify potential solutions to open up additional parking capacity in the downtown core.

Parking Issues

Common parking issues reported by downtown businesses and community members:

• Parking availability in downtown core (Pioneer from 5th Avenue to Main Avenue, Main Avenue from Pioneer Street to Mill Street)
• Lack of ADA parking
• Lack of designated loading zones
• Curb markings for parking zones need to be refreshed
• Poor sight distance at core intersections (N 4th Avenue and Pioneer, N 3rd Avenue and Pioneer)
• Wrong way drivers in one-way zone on S Main Avenue
• Need for designated longer term parking (i.e. for residents, business employees)
• Pioneer Street is too narrow for vehicles with boats/trailers

The map below identifies approximately 250 on street parking spaces currently available in the Downtown Core Area, and about 140 spaces in the Downtown Outer Area.

Current On-Street Parking

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Actions the City Has Taken

The following are actions the city has taken since starting the project.

• Wrong-way drivers on S Main Avenue: Added a one-way turn arrow from S Main to Sargent near Eagle's View Park. Assessed signage. No recent issues have been reported.
• Discussed removing parking restrictions along Pioneer at the Ridgefield Administrative and Civic Center with School District.
• Presented and asked for feedback at two Ridgefield Main Street Community Meetings (6/8/23 and 3/14/24).
  • Watch Presentation, March 14, 2024 (Parking is second half of the meeting, beginning at 28:39)
• Agreement with Ridgefield Postmaster for downtown mailbox request.*
• Additional one-way signage on N 5th Avenue.

*Downtown Mailbox History: For several decades, there was a past practice of not permitting mailboxes within 1/4 of the Ridgefield Post Office. This has ended, and there is now a process in place for downtown residents to install a mailbox at their residence, if desired. This process is started at the Ridgefield Post Office. This has created a new potential issue of parking in front of these new mailboxes.

Proposed Parking Plan

As a result of the study, the Public Works Department has developed a proposed Downtown Parking Plan to address the concerns. The main objectives of these are to add parking spaces, create turnover in existing high demand parking spaces and help visitors to locate public parking.

This plan was brought to Council at their June 13, 2024 meeting and the Council asked for staff to return with more information at a later meeting.

View the proposed Downtown Parking Plan map (PDF).

Specific items included in the plan are:

• Install wayfinding signage for existing public parking areas at Davis Park and along Railroad Avenue.
• Designate two 15-minute limit spaces per block along Main and Pioneer in downtown core, weekdays 8 AM to 5 PM.
• Rebuild Sargent Street from S Main to S 3rd Avenue, adding a parking lane. This project is funded by a Community Development Block Grant and is expected to occur in 2025.
• Extend yellow curbs at intersections along Pioneer to provide larger vehicle pull-offs for vehicles towing wide boats.
• Continue to work with C-TRAN to provide shuttles for large events.
• Convert gravel area on west side of N 5th Avenue to angled, two-hour parking spaces with signage.
• Designate 2-hour limit on all other spaces in downtown core, weekdays 8 AM to 5 PM. .
• Amend parking code to restrict parking in front of mail boxes. Requires Council Action.
• Remove most no-parking zones in front of Ridgefield Administrative and Civic Center and along N 3rd Avenue.
• Convert N 4th Avenue to One-Way from Pioneer to Simons Streets and convert to a mix of parallel and angled parking, similar to N 5th Avenue.

Additionally, the Downtown Parking Plan calls for future studies:

• Continue to assess ways to improve enforceability of parking code.
• Assessment of a downtown municipal parking lot.
• Consideration of parking needs as part of the Waterfront Park Master Plan, including for events at the location that may need parking for users of the future multi-use path/overpass along Division Street.

The proposed changes create an estimated gain of 20-30 spaces in the Downtown Core Area, for a total of 270-280 spaces. If you have feedback on any of the proposed changes, please submit them below. View the proposed Downtown Parking Plan map (PDF).