Barrington wants your opinion on natural disasters and downtown parking.

Town officials have uploaded two surveys to the town website — one is titled "Natural hazards — impacts, issues and concerns" and the other is called "Parking in the Village Center." Both surveys can be found at www.barrington.ri.gov

Barrington Town Planner Phil Hervey said the surveys are intended to cull important public opinion that will be used in an update to the town's hazard mitigation plan and to improve parking in the downtown area of Barrington.

The natural hazards survey includes 16 questions ranging from "Have you experienced or been impacted by a natural disaster in Barrington?" to "What should the town do to prepare for future sea level rise?" It also asks people about whether they have flood insurance and how much they pay for the insurance.

Mr. Hervey said the information will provide key information for officials as they consider such things as the town's emergency evacuation plans and for mitigating sea level rise in low-lying parts of Barrington.

The "Parking in the Village Center" survey is the shorter of the two and asks people to remember their most recent trip to the downtown area. Questions include "How long did you stay in the Village Center" and "Have you ever failed to find parking and just left?"

Mr. Hervey said the town has hired consultants to build a plan to improve the parking downtown and to encourage better walkability. He said Barrington's current parking downtown parking layout often results in shoppers driving from one store to another.

"Some of it is habit, but some is design," he said, adding that Bristol and Warren do a better job encouraging shoppers to walk from one store to another. In Barrington "every development has its own parking lot."

Mr. Hervey said preliminary discussions with the consultants have touched upon possible changes to the configuration of County Road, which now includes a center turning lane but fails to offer on-street parking. Mr. Hervey said Bristol's and Warren's main streets both have on-street parking.

"These are just some ideas," said Mr. Hervey.

The parking improvements would run separate from the streetscape improvements which have been planned, approved and funded. Those improvements include new curbing and and sidewalks, and some changes to the parking along West Street, Waseca, and Maple Avenue.

Mr. Hervey said town officials hope for the streetscape construction to go out to bid in the fall and be underway next year.