A message from Town of Jackson
JACKSON, Wyo. – If you have driven downtown on a busy summer afternoon, you have probably spent more time looking for parking than you expected. You are not alone, and the problem is more complicated than it first appears.
Over the last year, the Town has taken steps to manage parking. Parking spaces, whether in lots or on the sides of streets, are community assets, owned and maintained by the Town. Collectively, we have reached a point where these assets need to be thoughtfully, consistently managed. The Town is committed to learning as we go, so the ways we manage parking will continue to be refined aiming to create the greatest public benefit. Through thoughtful, ongoing management we are gathering data for Town Council and staff to fully understand how these assets are being used so they can make informed decisions. The Town’s parking assets include surface lots, street parking, loading zones, and the Parking Garage.
Though the Parking Garage on Simpson and Millward has been around for more than a decade, it is underutilized and rarely full. It got full in the past when it was being used by businesses, hotels, and for people to store extra vehicles. Recently, Town Council decided these were not the best uses of this community asset and voted to implement changes, including charging for parking for the first time in Jackson along with a program specifically for locals to park in the winter.
This Thursday, July 23, join a ‘Talk with Town’ on Zoom to share perspective prior to the next Town Council discussion on the Parking Garage scheduled for Monday, August 17.
When parking is not managed, drivers usually search for spots between eight and 15 minutes before finding one. Allocating both short and long-term parking appropriately decreases congestion by reducing the number of drivers circling to find a parking spot. Searching for parking clogs roads, wastes gas, and generates emissions, undermining sustainability goals and frustrating drivers. In August 2024, Town staff measured parking occupancy throughout downtown and found that most streets and surface lots in the downtown core exceeded 90% capacity at peak times, while the parking garage on Simpson and Milward typically had 50 to 80 spaces available. When lots are 85% full or more, drivers have to circle to find parking. Prior to this year, the Home Ranch parking lot was regularly full with cars parked for more than 3 hours at a time.
Tour operators and event planners were using the Home Ranch parking lot to support their operations. Some businesses used to have customers and party goers park their cars at Home Ranch all day and night. These were not reasons the Town created a parking lot in a central location, near our commercial district with a visitor center. Council has voted to redirect this parking asset toward its original purpose, short-term public access near the commercial district, rather than long-term storage for any single user or business.
This is another part of managing parking the Town will continue to refine and learn from. So far, event planners and tour operators have shifted directives for clients to utilize the Parking Garage or found other places and stopped utilizing local public assets for their parking needs. These changes affect people differently. Business owners worry about customer access. Employees who rely on cars because transit does not match their schedule face real constraints. Visitors expect convenient parking as part of the Jackson experience. The Town recognizes these tensions and does not treat them as solved; managing parking means continuing to hear from the people these decisions affect.
Jackson’s long-range community plans have consistently called for a town that is compact, walkable, and vibrant. Managing parking is one of many ways the Town is working to help people rethink how they travel. There is no single solution to parking or broader transportation challenges that Jackson is facing. So, the Town continues to pilot and refine management of the assets we have while keeping larger strategies in mind that help people prioritize transit, carpooling, biking, and walking over individuals in cars.
Rethinking how we get around and live our daily lives does not have to be drastic. It might mean a hiking group shifting plans to meet at someone’s house to carpool to the park instead of four cars convening at a parking lot. That is change, which can be hard and valuable at the same time. These recent shifts to parking are experiments the Town is looking to learn from. They are meant to lead to iterative and informed decision making. Good decisions about parking, transit, and how we move around the valley start with honest conversations. This is one of them.
