FRANKLIN, Tenn. (WTVF) — Franklin is launching a community parking study for the first time in 10 years, and city leaders want residents, workers, and visitors to weigh in.
The Park Franklin Parking Study is a community-focused effort to better understand parking needs in Central Franklin. The study aims to identify opportunities to improve parking access, operations, and the overall experience for residents, businesses, and visitors.
Franklin offers a range of parking options — 30-minute spots, 1-hour and 2-hour spaces, paid parking, street parking, and 24-hour parking. But as the city's population grows, so does the demand for those spots.
The Fourth Avenue garage is free, which draws many drivers — but available spots are almost always limited.
"The fact the garage is free is the best part," one Franklin worker said.
That popularity comes with a cost, especially during peak seasons.
"Especially in the summertime when tourism is pretty high. It's tough to get a spot in the middle of the day," Jonah Paul said.
City officials say the feedback they've already received makes clear the issue is top of mind for the community.
"It's been a lot of feedback about the challenges of parking downtown," Steering Committee Chair Bob Ravener said.
Ravener said the goal is to hear from the people who live and work in Franklin about what's working and what isn't.
"Let's make it make sense. We don't wanna be extreme on any end — we just want to continuously improve the city we all love and make it better," Ravener said.
The challenge isn't limited to visitors. Downtown Franklin resident Mark Miersma walks everywhere — partly out of preference, partly out of necessity.
"I absolutely love it. It's the best," Miersma said.
But when parking fills up downtown, he said it spills onto his street.
"It's challenging because where I live, it's 50% residence and 50% business," Miersma said.
The overflow becomes especially noticeable during Franklin's frequent festivals.
"Whenever there's a festival — which is like every other month around here, which is good — it's like people just come out of the woodwork and it's quite challenging to find parking then," Miersma said.
Mayor Ken Moore, who appointed the Park Franklin Steering Committee earlier this year, said the study is an opportunity for the community to shape the future of downtown parking.
"Parking is one of the most important issues for a thriving downtown," Moore said. "This study gives Franklin an opportunity to share what's working, what's not, and what matters most as Franklin continues to grow. The City wants to hear input from downtown business owners, customers, employees and visitors as well as residents. Our community's input is valuable to our decision making."
The steering committee is made up of 12 residents, downtown business owners, and community group representatives. A Park Franklin Technical Working Group will also meet throughout the study to provide insight from city staff and others involved in parking enforcement, policy, and future planning.
The study combines community input through an online survey, data collection on how, when, and where parking is currently used, and stakeholder conversations with downtown businesses, residents, and organizations.
"Together, these efforts will help identify patterns, pressures, and opportunities to make future recommendations related to parking management and policy considerations," said Andrew Orr, the study's project manager and City of Franklin Long Range Planning Supervisor.
The online survey is now open and takes just a few minutes to complete. It runs through July 10. A second survey focused specifically on large-scale special events will be released later this year.
Findings will be presented to city leaders in about 18 months.
- Take the survey: https://input.franklintn.gov/en/projects/parking-survey-2026/surveys/new?phase_id=2261607c-1f99-4d12-9aed-ffaad03ea591
- Learn more: https://input.franklintn.gov/en/folders/parkfranklin
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at Amanda.Roberts@NewsChannel5.com
This story was reported on-air by Amanda Roberts and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
Young or old, we all love to play board and card games! Those games become even more important when you are indoors and don't have the ability to get outside, like patients in a hospital. Austin Pollack shares the story of students in a Nashville family who have helped re-launch the Red Wagon project to collect games for patients at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt.
- Lelan Statom
