Location
Fargo, ND
Client
Fargo-Moorhead Metropolitan Council of Governments
Services
Parking Planning + Policy
Traffic Engineering
Transportation Planning
Fargo/West Fargo Parking + Access Study
In recent years the Fargo and West Fargo region has seen unprecedented growth, presenting an opportunity to create more mixed-use, walkable, and sustainable development patterns. To better understand how access management and parking can support this type of growth, Sam Schwartz was retained by the Fargo-Moorehead Metropolitan Council of Governments (Metro COG) to develop a set of guidelines and practices for building a culture of respect for all street users.
Sam Schwartz built guidelines tailored to the needs of the Fargo metropolitan region through a stakeholder outreach process that drew on parking/travel demand preferences, developer insights, and planning programs. They create a balanced transportation system that simultaneously improves traffic efficiencies; this includes elements like taking advantage of the natural resiliency of the area’s street grid to reducing unnecessary off-street parking. To illustrate how the guidelines could apply to Fargo, a series of land use prototypes were developed to highlight elements of a sustainable site, including appropriate street framework, access spacing, pedestrian crossings, and parking ratios.
