After last week’s post featuring a University of Washington (UW) report that showed downtown delivery drivers averaged more than a quarter of their trip time circling for parking, DRA heard from transportation expert Ross Tilghman who noted the vast mismatch between available loading zones and delivery volumes.

It’s a gap well-documented. The same study noted only 11% of downtown Seattle’s 52 miles of curb space are allocated to commercial loading zones, while another UW study finds 87% of all downtown buildings lack internal loading and rely on street and alley parking.

Seattle’s not alone fighting this problem.  Density and 20% yearly increases in online sales already had cities worldwide scrambling to contain the spike in urban freight deliveries.  Then the pandemic arrived and threw the trend into overdrive.

But unlike most cities, Seattle has a significant advantage.  Since 2018 its transportation grid and traffic patterns have been the subject of more than half a dozen studies to help inform its land use and transportation policy-makers.

The UW’s 2018 Alley Infrastructure Inventory concluded: “The city is growing denser, and the number of delivery and service trucks needed to serve a 60-story tower from its adjacent alley is much greater (on average) than the number needed for a four-story building.” 

The Inventory recommended alley design standards for new buildings be revised to provide angled loading bays with enough space for trucks to access berths and fully extend equipment.  It also called for storing trash and recycling containers out of travel lanes.

While common sense, the proposals have the imprimatur of academic rigor and on-the-ground observations. When the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspection (SDCI) announced a Director’s Rule including these recommendations, it appeared data would make a real world difference.

But that Rule has inexplicably stalled and last month SDCI approved a 53-story office, retail and apartment tower with one 25’ loading berth—not even adequate to offload a 15-ft U-Haul. 

If solid data and urgent need won’t move Seattle policy, what will?

Meanwhile, consultant Ross Tilghman sees potential in the latest research findings—should the City choose to act.

“To some degree, it could become a predictive matter.  For example, a given amount of floor area by use (office, hotel, retail, residential) will generate a specific range of delivery demands that will then need a set amount of loading zones, either public or private.” Adding, “Is it a step too high for our City to consider such an approach to inform its planning for all of the development it wants to approve?”