Parking Study: Madison Avenue Needs Some Love

With all of the grassroots efforts to develop Madison Avenue, city officials are taking a closer look at the parking situation.

The first stop is across the street from the new bar and restaurant Barrio, at an under-utilized municipal lot.

What, you didn’t know it existed either? 

The issue came up at the city’s board of zoning appeals meeting on May 16, when the new Roxu sushi restaurant requested a parking variance. The board requested the city to conduct a parking study of the entirety of Madison. 

The city will present a “working draft” of the study to the Lakewood Planning Commission to discuss parking — or lack of — on the city’s commercial corridor.

The study was conducted “in-house,” meaning there were no additional costs associated with the project.

Dru Siley, the city’s director of planning and development, said the city is working with the Uptown Lakewood organization to look at public parking solutions in the up-and-coming neighborhood.

“We did a complete inventory,” he said. “We found that there’s plenty of available parking but the municipal lot in the neighborhood is underused.”

He said there are plans to improve the public parking on Madison Avenue — think better lighting and signs.

“It’s a positive thing that they have a higher number of folks coming to the district,” Siley added. “This is a great problems to have."