News

Sep 14, 2023

Waco to form downtown parking authority as Baylor basketball arena rises

Parking is at a premium along Webster Avenue near the Magnolia Market at the

Parking is at a premium along Webster Avenue near the Magnolia Market at the Silos. A new plan by Kimley-Horn shows that the area has some of the heaviest parking demand in downtown.

Parking along Webster Avenue is in high demand, according to a new downtown parking study.

Waco City Council is set Tuesday to create a municipal parking authority to manage public parking in downtown Waco, especially for events at the riverside basketball arena Baylor University is building.

The parking authority will have "limited but specialized powers," Assistant City Manager Paul Cain said. The authority's responsibilities will include managing city-owned parking lots and garages during events and conducting more research on parking needs.

The authority can also build, lease, repair or improve parking facilities, borrow money, and exercise eminent domain in the riverfront area of downtown.

The zone is bounded by Interstate 35, the Brazos River, Third Street and Washington Avenue.

"They have the power to build parking, they have the power to lease for parking," Cain said. "That could be done in the future, but primarily their work now will be implementation of the event and parking management plan."

He said the parking authority also has the power to charge for parking, but that's not part of the current plan.

The council is set to approve the parking authority on second reading at its 6 p.m. meeting at the Waco Convention Center's Bosque Theater.

The new Paul and Alejandra Foster Pavilion is taking shape along Interstate 35 and the Brazos River. The $213 million Baylor Univerisity basketball arena is expected to host games by January 2024.

The new municipal parking authority would manage game day parking around Clifton Robinson Tower and the adjacent basketball arena Baylor University is building.

The master development agreement that the city of Waco and Baylor University inked in March called for a parking authority. The agreement reserves a specific number of parking spaces for Baylor employees that work in Clifton Robinson Tower during the week and designates how many public parking spaces will be reserved for ticketholders on event days.

Waco Mayor Dillon Meek will appoint five members to a governing board that will include three representatives from the city of Waco, one from Baylor University and one from Catalyst Urban Development, which the city chose to develop around the Paul and Alejandra Foster Basketball Pavilion. Those five board members can hire a secretary, executive director, legal staff, technical experts and other employees.

Some of the parking authority's guidelines will come from a downtown parking, pedestrian and street implementation plan drafted by design consulting firm Kimley-Horn.

During the council's work session at 3 p.m. Tuesday, Kimley-Horn representatives will present their findings and walk through the plan's suggestions for improvements to downtown traffic flow, plans to shuttle groups around downtown during events and current demand for parking.

A map from Kimley-Horn shows weekend occupancy in different parking areas downtown, with green the lowest and red the highest. Areas around the convention center and Magnolia Market had the most parking demand.

Parking at River Square Center and the Waco Convention Center would be under the control of the new municipal parking authority.

"It's a foundational element that will inform a number of things," Waco City Manager Bradley Ford said.

City management and Kimley-Horn are developing an event parking management plan that will be the parking authority board's guide.

"They’ll lay out standard operating procedures, like how parking is going to be controlled ahead of events," Cain said. "For example, if you’ve got a basketball game from Thursday night from 5 to 7 p.m., the garages are going to have to empty."

He said event parking will likely extend to the lots in front of Waco Convention Center, Waco City Hall and the River Square shopping center lot across the street. The implementation plan will also lay out trolley and bus routes that will shuttle people from Baylor University and downtown parking lots to games at the basketball pavilion and back.

Waco City Council is set Tuesday to create a municipal parking authority to manage public parking in downtown Waco, especially for events at the riverside basketball arena Baylor University is building. // Finval - Morning River Music provided by Tunetank. Free Download: https://tunetank.com/track/3236-morning-river/

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Rhiannon Saegert is a graduate of the University of North Texas who formerly worked at The Ardmoreite in Ardmore, Okla., the Denton Record-Chronicle and Eater magazine.

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