City Adds 400 Parking Spaces to Solve Traffic Problem Created by Previous 400 Parking Spaces

The Meadowbrook City Council voted 5-2 Tuesday to approve construction of a 400-space parking structure in the downtown core, a project explicitly designed to alleviate the traffic congestion caused by a 400-space parking structure built in the same area in 2019. 'The existing garage generates significant vehicle traffic that our road network wasn't designed to handle,' explained city traffic engineer Dale Arterial at the council meeting. 'The solution, obviously, is a second garage that will generate additional vehicle traffic. But this time we've widened the access road by twelve feet, so it should be fine.' Urban planner Rebecca Setback, who voted against the measure, pointed out that the proposal 'is literally the same thing we did last time, which is the thing that created the problem we're now trying to solve.' 'Induced demand is a well-documented phenomenon,' Setback said. 'You build parking, more people drive, you need more parking, you build more parking, more people drive. It's a feedback loop. I drew a diagram. Nobody looked at the diagram.' The council majority was unmoved. 'Dr. Setback's diagram had arrows going in a circle, which I think proves my point that this is a circular argument,' said Councilmember Phil Frontage. The new garage will be located on the site of a recently demolished public park, which the city described as 'underutilized green space' with an annual maintenance cost of $40,000. The replacement parking structure will cost $12 million to build, $800,000 annually to maintain, and will generate an estimated 2,400 additional daily vehicle trips through the downtown corridor. Setback has requested that the minutes reflect her objection. 'I want it on record,' she said, 'for when we build the third garage in 2032.'