Bismarck-Mandan MPO schedules 2026 study of parking-constrained areas

The Bismarck-Mandan Metropolitan Planning Organization has scheduled a Parking Constrained Areas Study for 2026 as part of its adopted 2026-2027 Unified Planning Work Program.

The work item is a transportation-planning study, not an approved parking restriction, construction project or final policy change. It will examine places in Bismarck where parking availability is limited and evaluate options that could address access and travel in those areas.

Study areas and options

The program identifies downtown Bismarck, the state Capitol complex and an educational campus as the study’s listed focus areas. The document does not name the educational campus in the material provided.

Planners are expected to consider public transportation, micromobility, on-street parking demand management, and pedestrian and bicycle improvements. Those options place parking within a broader transportation-access discussion that includes transit, walking, bicycling and smaller shared mobility modes.

The study does not itself commit the city or other participating agencies to any particular outcome. In particular, the work program does not establish a parking ban, order new construction, or state that parking will be reduced or transit use will increase.

Budget item and planning partners

The Unified Planning Work Program says the activity is expected to contribute approximately $15,655 in spending toward the Safe and Accessible Transportation Option set-aside. The available document characterizes that amount as a contribution toward the set-aside; it does not provide a full study budget or identify the study’s funding sources.

The planning program is developed with the North Dakota Department of Transportation, Bis-Man Transit and jurisdictional partners. The MPO planning program includes Bismarck, Mandan, Lincoln, Burleigh County and Morton County, although the listed parking study locations are in Bismarck.

The work program was updated with project schedules as of March 11, 2026. It targets the study for 2026 within the broader 2026-2027 program period.

What comes next

No final completion date is provided in the available material, and no consultant is identified. The program also does not describe closures, service changes or construction associated with the study.

For people who park, ride transit, walk, bike or travel through the listed areas, the study is the formal planning stage in which agencies can assess constraints and evaluate potential approaches. Any future parking-management action, transit change, street work or other implementation would require steps beyond the scheduled study.