Metered Parking on Tacoma Ave & the Possible End of Paid Juror Parking

As of September 22, visitors looking for parking around the County City Building in Tacoma will encounter some changes to the parking system.

Parking meters are being installed along Tacoma Avenue between South 9th and South 14th. Parking will cost $1 an hour, like the other metered parts of downtown Tacoma, and will be limited to two hours. Parking on the streets between the existing downtown pay parking area and Tacoma Avenue will continue to be free for now.

If those people looking for parking are jurors, they will have another change to get used to before too long - the Pierce County Courts will be phasing out the parking passes they have issued to jurors for the last couple decades. The County has a parking garage, which currently includes 115 juror parking spaces, but those are often either full, or underutilized by jurors who park on the streets instead. 

The News Tribune quotes County Court officials concerened with the impact of these changes on juror attendance. Pierce County Superior Court presiding judge Ronald Culpepper would like to see Tacoma City Council intervene in the changes, which he feels will cause an increased number of jurors to be no-shows.

The changes were recommended by Tacoma's citizen Parking Technical Advisory Group, and approved by City Manager T.C. Broadnax. If they go forward as expected, paid parking on Tacoma Avenue begins on September 22, with the phasing out of the juror pass system expected through the end of the year.

These changes come as Pierce County works on plans for a new office complex that would take the place of the old Puget Sound Hospital at 36th and Pacific, providing space to bring many County employees - including most of those from the County City Building - together on the Lincoln District site. The project is far from done, but if/when it is completed, it could free up some parking previously used by those employees.

We can probably all agree that the current parking around the City County Building is far from ideal, but it sounds like there's less than full agreement on the solution. 

What do you think? Is paid parking on Tacoma Avenue a good thing?