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.

As Downtown Ridgefield continues to grow and redevelop, bringing a wide range of new businesses, renovation of existing buildings, unique shops and charming restaurants, demand for on-street parking space has increased over the past 3-4 years.

On Thursday, March 13, 2025 City Council adopted a Downtown Parking Plan to open up additional parking capacity in the downtown core and address a host of issues related to parking; traffic, bicycle and pedestrian circulation; accessibility and safety. Staff will implement the plan in Spring 2025.

This project has involved several rounds of consultation and collaborative problem solving with downtown businesses, residents, and Ridgefield Main Street.

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.
• Additional one-way signage on N 5th Avenue.
• Sargent Street CDBG project will add parking.

Adopted Parking Plan

This proposed plan was first presented for Council discussion and direction at the February 17, 2025 meeting. Staff returned to Council at the March 13, 2025 meeting for action on the Downtown Parking Plan. The changes create an estimated gain of 20-30 spaces in the Downtown Core Area, for a total of 270-280 spaces.

• View the Adopted Downtown Parking Plan Map (PDF)
• Listen to the discussion.

Adopted Plan
These items will be implemented by City Staff in Spring 2025.

• Pioneer Street
  • Convert spaces along Ridgefield Administrative and Civic Center (RACC) to public parking.
  • Extend yellow curbs at intersections for pull-outs, vehicles towing wide boats.
• N 5th Avenue
  • Delineate gravel area on the west side of the street for angled parking (at Ridgefield Mercantile).
  • Additional ADA parking space along street.
• N 4th Avenue
  • Convert to One-Way from Pioneer to Simons, additional on-street spaces (angle parking and parallel parking)
• N 3rd Avenue
  • Convert no parking areas to public parking spaces as appropriate. Previous no parking area was created due to pole truck route which is no longer in use.
• On-Street ADA Parking
  • Add a space closest to intersections/accessible curb ramps along S Main (Overlook Park), N Main and N 3rd at Simons.
• Parking Code Updates (RMC 10.12)
  • Return to Council with actions needed to implement Downtown Parking Plan, no parking near mailboxes (citywide).

Deferred Items
Staff will bring these items back to Council with more information for consideration at a later date.

• New Loading Zones (Weekdays 8 AM - Noon)
  • Need more information on need and times of day from local businesses.
  • West side of N Main, two spaces
  • East side of S Main, two spaces
• Electric Vehicle On-Street Parking Charging Stations
  • Deferred to future discussion of on-street vs. off-street EV parking
• Angled Parking
  • Consideration of conversion to angled parking on portions of Simons and N Main. Deferred until review of Port's Waterfront development transportation impact analysis.

Items for Future Study

• Shuttles for large events downtown.
• Wayfinding signage for public parking areas at Davis Park and Port property along Railroad Avenue.
• Assess ways to improve parking enforceability.
• Assessment of a downtown municipal parking lot.
• Consideration of parking needs with Waterfront Park & development: as part of Waterfront development transportation impact analysis.