New Signage Aims at Easing Parking Woes in the Downtown

Circling for parking is just something you do but the city of Campbell is aiming at lessening the circling by reminding visitors that there are two parking garages downtown.

On May 16, the Campbell Public Works department installed an additional two parking signs inside the Second Street Parking Garage. The signs offer drivers additional parking at the First Street Parking Garage, just a couple streets down.

"There was concern that the (second street) garage was full," said Traffic Engineer Matthew Jue.

Jue said that drivers coming out of the top floor of the Second Street Parking Garage needed clear direction to additional places to park in the downtown. This parking garage has 300 spots available.

Jue said that the underutilization of the First Street Parking Garage is based on the city's experience. This parking garage has 200 spots available.

"The second floor is not used very much," he said. "It's pretty apparent to anyone who uses that garage."

The cost of the signs is minimal, Jue said. Each was less than $500.

There are now a total of 24 parking signs between the two garages, he said.

"There’s been a lot of work over the years with putting in these signs," Jue said. "There’s a balance that needs to be struck. Too many signs is seen as clutter."

Visibility is also key with signage for parking, he said. In the past, the city had parking signs that were green lettering on white backgrounds but there was the argument that they were hard to read so the signage changed to white lettering on blue backgrounds.

The city, however, hasn't noticed if the additional signage has made a difference in the time they've been up.

"We haven't gotten any feedback from anyone," Jue said.

So Campbell, what's the word? Why do you choose one garage over the other? What are the pros and cons and what can be improved in order to get you to switch over?