Mesa presents draft Downtown micromobility and parking plan; final adoption set for Nov. 17

Mesa City Council staff and consultants presented a draft Downtown Mesa micromobility and parking plan during the council’s Oct. 23 study session, laying out short-, mid- and long-term recommendations intended to guide future implementation of bike lanes, scooter infrastructure and parking changes in downtown Mesa.

The plan, presented by Jeff McVay, manager of Urban Transformation, and project managers Jimmy Turacchio and Anthony Rodriguez, follows public engagement by consultant Stantec and is framed as a policy and planning document rather than an engineering study. McVay said the document is meant to “guide the future implementation of micromobility and transportation interventions in the downtown area.”

Stantec’s assessment — which included four stakeholder meetings, two public events and an online engagement page — found wide downtown streets, limited protected bike infrastructure, long blocks with little shade and a strong perception of insufficient parking despite what staff described as an existing inventory of roughly 6,400 public parking spaces. The consultant reported that garages and lots “are never more than 50% utilized at any time,” while staff noted some lots approach 80–85% use at peak moments such as lunch or evening events.

Plan recommendations and rationale

The draft groups recommendations under three goals: access, safety and comfort. Key recommendations include standardizing on-street parking time limits (Main Street at two hours; core downtown between First Avenue and First Street at three hours; outer areas with no limit), expanding convenient daily permits for off-street garages, and pursuing shared-use agreements with private lots.

To improve safety and create space for micromobility, the plan recommends removing unnecessary left-turn lanes, replacing some turn lanes with left-turn pockets, narrowing travel lanes where feasible and adding dedicated micromobility lanes and hubs. The plan estimates up to 250 additional on-street angled parking spaces could be added between…