Plans are in the works to change parking rules along Broadway in the Baker and West Washington Park neighborhoods in an effort to give residents a leg up as the growing number of business customers take more of the available spaces.

Denver Public Works is proposing several changes along the Broadway corridor, spanning from Fifth to Alameda avenues and Cherokee to Sherman Street. In the past few years, popular businesses have led to an influx of cars filling the streets of the surrounding neighborhoods.

“In the past, there was not a comprehensive strategy both to the east and west side of Broadway,” said Cindy Patton, principal transportation planner with Denver Public Works.

Patton added that the plan is a draft and could see some tweaks based on feedback. The changes are scheduled to start this summer.

One of the more notable changes includes a Baker-area permit for residents living between Third Avenue and Alameda between Broadway and Cherokee. Residents would need a permit to avoid a two-hour time limit between 10 a.m. and 10 p.m., which the city plans to implement. The permit is more flexible than residential parking permits the city currently uses in that residents won’t have to park strictly on their block.

Now, residents who don’t have garages or alley parking are sometimes forced to walk three or four blocks because no parking is available. The problem has increased in the past two years when more restaurants have popped up, kicked off by the often-crowded Punch Bowl Social near 1st Avenue and Broadway.

“The issue is that some of the permits that were in place before never addressed hours,” said Mathew Wasserburger, an at-large member of the Baker Historic Neighborhood Association.

A similar permit will be issued for West Washington Park residents up to Sherman Street, but Patton said that area does not have as many parking issues because Lincoln Street serves as a barrier.

Another major change affects parking meters in the area: Meters would be in use 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. , have a two-hour time limit and cost $1 per hour. Today, meters run from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and range in price, with some only 20 cents per hour.

The city hopes to create more parking by adding more metered parking to some of the avenues off Broadway, removing loading zones from streets off Broadway and negotiating use of some of the 1,000 off-street parking spaces.

“We were at capacity a lot of times,” said Marty Lavine, president of the Broadway Merchants Association.

Lavine added that some business owners have expressed some concerns over the plan, but everyone had the opportunity to give input for the plan.

He said: “I think everyone knew something needed to happen.”

Joe Vaccarelli: 303-954-2396, jvaccarelli@denverpost.com or twitter.com/joe_vacc

See the Denver Public Works plan for parking in the Baker and West Washington Park neighborhoods

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