ADA TOWNSHIP, Mich. — As downtown Ada continues to grow, township leaders took a closer look at whether the area has enough parking to keep up with the crowds.
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What the Study Found
On Thursday, officials shared the results of a parking study conducted by consulting firm Fishbeck.
The study took a full inventory of spaces across downtown, measured usage during busy periods — including a farmers market, weekend activity and a weekday evening event — and gathered community input through stakeholder interviews, a public open house and an online survey that drew hundreds of responses.
According to the study, downtown Ada has 1,799 parking spaces in total:
- 365 on-street spaces
- 1,434 off-street spaces, including 221 public and 1,213 private
Overall, demand is still below capacity.
"There's enough parking to meet the needs in general. It's not always within 200 feet, you can't always see the front door of your destination from where you're going," said a representative from Fishbeck.
Consultants formally concluded that "downtown has adequate parking to meet the needs of businesses and organizations," though they noted that some walking may sometimes be required.
During large events, however, some lots fill up quickly while nearby parking areas often remain underused — a pattern that may create the perception of a shortage. One example presented during the meeting showed that during a concert downtown, the library parking lot had only three cars parked, despite being about a five-minute walk from the concert.
A Growing Downtown
Downtown has seen steady growth in recent years. A hotel opened last year, and new businesses continue to move in — bringing more visitors and more cars.
At Garage Bar, one of the anchor restaurants in downtown Ada, General Manager Jason Kelly says parking is a topic that comes up often.
"Customers often ask if we're ever going to expand our parking lot or anything like that," Kelly said.
Kelly noted that busy nights — including Fridays, Saturdays and holidays — bring heavy traffic to the area.
"We are expecting quite a bit for St. Patrick's Day coming up here soon," he said.
When it comes to navigating the parking situation, Kelly summed it up: "It seems to be a lot of 'get in where you fit' in as far as parking goes."
What Comes Next
Rather than building new parking lots, the study recommends focusing on making better use of existing spaces.
Leaders say the goal is to keep parking demand below about 80 percent capacity. Steps toward that goal could include:
- Encouraging businesses to share parking
- Improving signage to show where public parking is available
- Better communicating parking options to visitors and neighbors
- Continuing to monitor parking demand over time
"That's just the goal of any downtown, wants to get there, where they, what parking they have is well utilized and not over built," the Fishbeck representative said.
The next step is for the Downtown Development Authority to prepare an operational plan, which will then go to the Township Board for consideration.
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