Input sought to finish VW parking study

VW independent staff/submitted information

As work continues to revitalize downtown Van Wert, the Van Wert Forward team is wrapping up a year-long parking study process and is seeking input from the public.

“We are confident that with the help from your shared stories and experiences along with data-driven facts, we will be able to impact parking in downtown Van Wert positively,” Van Wert County Foundation Planning and Resource Specialist Laney Nofer said.

The process began in the fall of 2020 but due to COVID-19 and capacity restrictions, the group didn’t believe the data would best represent the parking in the downtown area. Once Ohio was allowed to fully re-open for business in June, the Van Wert Forward team did another parking count process.

In a 38-acre designated area of downtown Van Wert, there are 977 parking spots and data from the most recent parking counts showed that at no time did any of five different zones reach above 50 percent use. The same data shows that even with a 25 percent increase in volume (general medium-size redevelopment standards), the parking capacity will still not exceed 60 percent in usage.

Some recommendations that could apply soon include reconfiguring existing lots to either add spaces or improve existing conditions, adding signage to encourage parking wayfinding, and encouraging and improving walking and biking within the district.

The link for the public survey is https://www.vanwertforward.org/news…/parking-questionnaire.

For more information, please contact Van Wert Forward at 419.238.1743 or visit The Van Wert County Foundation office at 138 E. Main St., Van Wert.