At Tuesday’s Ames City Council meeting, council members will hear the results of a feasibility study on a potential downtown parking ramp. Proponents say the ramp would help spur further growth on Main Street.

The study, conducted by OPN Architects out of Des Moines, was commissioned by the city after private groups began seeking ways to expand Main Street parking, said Damion Pregitzer, Ames traffic engineer.

“The downtown businesses were looking at trying to build extra parking,” Pregitzer said. “[City Council] directed staff to study this in the central business district, lots X and Y.”

The two connected parking lots, X and Y, lie between Main Street businesses to the north and the railroad to the south, which runs from Clark Avenue to Kellogg Avenue.

 Currently, the lots provide spaces for 218 vehicles.

For a growing downtown to attract additional residents, shoppers and event-goers, more parking may be needed.

Part of the issue, said Jayne McGuire, director of the Main Street Cultural District, is that most downtown spaces are metered or are limited to 10-minute or four-hour parking.

Only 31 of the spaces in lots X and Y are available for 24 hours at a time, but even these are reserved and leased to specific individuals.

Thus, options are limited for those who come downtown for longer periods or live in the downtown area.

McGuire said events, such as the Tune into Main Street concert series, compound the problem.

“In order to develop this portion of downtown, there needs to be additional parking,” McGuire said.

The proposed parking ramp would attempt to solve some of the parking problems that are current affecting downtown residents and visitors. While the construction of a parking ramp may help Main Street residents and businesses, Pregitzer said the recently completed study is only the first step in the process of getting such a ramp built.

If the council chooses to move forward, Pregitzer said, it will need to develop the details of a specific plan, vote for the construction and find funding for what could be a $7 – 9 million-dollar project.