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"Junction merchants will be thrilled with the results." That was Susan Melrose, then executive director of the West Seattle Junction Association, in July 2009. SDOT had just finished a year and a half of study and concluded that paid parking "isn't the right approach for The Junction at this time."
Seventeen years later, the same association's current director, Christine Mackay, is backing SDOT's 2026 draft, which recommends meters. "We support SDOT's updated parking plan," she said in the city's September 30 announcement. She added that turnover would keep spaces available throughout the day.
The association didn't change its mind about meters in the abstract. What changed is the time of day when the Junction fills up. Parking used to be easy until dinner. Now the squeeze starts before lunch, and the two-hour signs that worked in 2009 no longer produce the turnover they once did.
The city has measured Junction parking three times, and each count describes a different place.
Study | What SDOT found | What the city did |
|---|---|---|
2008–2009 | Commercial blocks generally 56% to 71% full, under SDOT's 75% threshold for major changes. High compliance with two-hour signs. | No meters. More consistent two-hour limits, including changing two one-hour blocks on SW Alaska to two hours. |
2017–2018 | Parking "readily available before 5 pm." Occupancy peaked 6 to 7 pm. Weekday occupancy close to the city's 70% to 85% "ideal." | No meters. A Restricted Parking Zone, RPZ 35, plus unpaid time limits. |
2026 | Most blocks more than 70% full from 11 am to 5 pm. Most more than 86% full from 5 to 8 pm. Peak demand up about 20% since 2017. | Draft recommends two-hour paid parking on the busiest blocks. |
The 2018 study had a striking turnover figure. SDOT counted 3,271 vehicles using 706 spaces in a single weekday, and almost 60% of them stayed under an hour. SDOT's Jonathan Williams said at the time that "turnover frankly was really great." The Junction had a short evening crunch and plenty of room in the afternoon. Meters fix a curb that stays full for hours, and that wasn't the problem then.
The April 2026 counts, taken on a Thursday and a Saturday, show that afternoon slack is gone.
SDOT's project staff gave two reasons in their interview with West Seattle Blog. With more people working from home, more people can shop or eat in the Junction during the day. And food-delivery pickups now compete for the same curb space. "The world has changed a lot since we last studied parking," they said.
Mackay added a third reason in an interview with KING 5. Some employees park in prime California Avenue spaces for hours and move their cars to stay within the existing limits. "What we need to do is create some turnover," she said.
That explains why the 2009 fix stopped working. Back then, SDOT took high compliance with the two-hour signs as proof the signs were doing their job. A driver who moves their car every two hours is still compliant, but the space never opens up for anyone else. A meter charges for the whole stay. KING 5 also noted that the draft doesn't name any alternative parking for employees, though some nearby blocks would keep free time-limited spaces.
Businesses say the same thing in SDOT's September 2026 outreach summary. Of businesses surveyed, 75% said customer parking is difficult, 82% said customers often complain about it, and 57% said loading is difficult for delivery and service vehicles.
The SDOT project page lists these blocks for two-hour paid parking, 8 am to 8 pm, Monday through Saturday:
Proposed starting rates are $1 an hour from 8 to 11 am and $4 an hour from 11 am to 8 pm. Pay stations would take cards and coins, and there would be a pay-by-phone option. You could buy time in 15-minute increments, so a quick morning stop would cost 25 cents. If you pay by phone, you can add time remotely, but only up to two hours total. SDOT would review rates periodically and raise or lower them in 50-cent steps, aiming to keep one or two spaces open on each block.
A few blocks would stay free, but their two-hour limit would run until 8 pm instead of 6 pm:
The city's page and West Seattle Blog's map coverage describe two edges differently. On SW Alaska, West Seattle Blog says the change applies to the few free city-owned spots along the north edge of the lot behind KeyBank, possibly with one five-minute spot kept for the ballot box. On SW Genesee, West Seattle Blog lists the south side from 44th to California as staying free. If you park on either street regularly, check the published map.
Loading zones of 5, 15, and 30 minutes are part of the plan, but their locations haven't been set and will be worked out with businesses. Meter revenue would go to the city's general fund. SDOT says there is no revenue target, and no new parking enforcement officers are being added.
The Junction's off-street lots went through this in 2021. The four customer lots that the West Seattle Junction Association had kept free for decades started charging on January 15, 2021, with Diamond Parking running them. The association doesn't own the lots. It leases them from West Seattle Trusteed Properties, and the lease passes through property taxes. The association said its share of the lot revenue would help cover that tax bill.
The lots are at 42nd and Oregon, on 44th behind NW Art & Frame, at 44th and Alaska, and on 44th behind Beer Junction. The association's current Junction Access page still describes the lease and says nearby businesses pay a surcharge to help cover costs, but it doesn't list current rates. One detail matters for comparison: the proposed street meters would cap stays at two hours, which West Seattle Blog points out is different from the Junction's paid private lots.
The two kinds of surveys disagree about how people get to the Junction. In SDOT's April 2026 intercept survey, staff talked to more than 550 people on the street. Most said they arrived by walking, biking, or transit. The online survey, open July 2 through July 27, drew 3,180 responses, 2,605 of them from residents. In that survey, 71% said they usually drive to the Junction, and 61% of visitors said parking availability affects whether they decide to come.
The 2018 intercept survey landed in between. Just over half of respondents had arrived by car, and the people most likely to walk lived within a mile. The two methods reach different groups. A clipboard on California Avenue reaches whoever is on the sidewalk. An online form reaches people motivated enough to fill it out, including people who drove in and circled.
None of these surveys asked whether people want meters. The September survey covered parking experiences, so it can't be read as support for or opposition to paid parking.
Several new businesses are opening on or next to the proposed paid blocks:
Takeout-heavy businesses depend on the short-stop loading zones that SDOT hasn't placed yet. One pedestrian change has already happened. On September 30, crews installed a hardened center line next to the crosswalks at California and Oregon.
This is still a draft. SDOT is taking comments through its online form and will staff a table outside the Junction QFC at 42nd SW and SW Alaska this Tuesday, October 6, from 10 am to 2 pm. Revised recommendations are due this winter, and any changes would be installed in early 2027. West Seattle Blog's full report on the recommendation links to the presentation PDF with the pedestrian-safety proposals, most of them on SW Oregon.
If you own a home or a storefront near these blocks and want to know how curb access plays into your plans, reach out to local West Seattle real estate expert Mara Haveson to walk through it block by block.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
Address
4531 California Ave., SW
Seattle, WA 98116
Mara Haveson