Newberg is a city of 25,000 that lies about 25 miles southwest of Portland in the heart of Oregon’s wine country. The waning COVID crisis has combined with the steady growth of Oregon’s wine scene to create a downtown that is as busy as ever, featuring all the associated parking problems. Downtown Newberg has a robust event calendar as well, with each event placing new and unique strains on the parking system.
Our work on this project included a detailed inventory and operational analysis of the parking system, and a comprehensive plan to address both everyday parking issues as well as the myriad of unique issues that arise from the event. The project included extensive outreach with partner organizations, other stakeholders, and the public-at-large, featuring both in-person and online engagement efforts.
The final plan included a mix of interventions designed to facilitate more robust turnover of high-demand on-street parking, and to activate the City’s underutilized parking resources through better branding, wayfinding, and connections to destinations. Notably, our work included collaborating with Newberg Police Department to propose an automated enforcement package, and with Oregon Department of Transportation to explore options for creating a better pedestrian environment on the highway couplet through downtown.
The project had a challenging three-month timeline, but was completed on time and on budget.